Media Lab Europe (MLE) announced today that it is putting the company into voluntary solvent liquidation. Its 60 employees were told the news this evening.
The decision was taken because its principal stakeholders - the Government and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) - have not reached agreement on a new funding model for the organisation.
Media Lab Europe was launched in 2000 as a research and innovation laboratory in the fields of digital technologies and was based in the Government's digital hub project in the liberties in Dublin.
Last year the Lab advised its main stakeholders that the levels of external funding being raised were insufficient to sustain it into the future. Results published by MLE showed that the college spent €5.6 million more than it raised in funding in 2003. Without State intervention it was expected to run out of cash by the middle of 2005.
The Government had sought to renegotiate the contract between the State and MIT to formalise the US college's relationship with Media Lab Europe.
In a statement, Media Lab's board of directors said: "It is important to acknowledge the innovative work of the Lab since it was established. Much of this work has been coming to fruition in recent months, with fourteen patent applications filed and a number of commercialisation opportunities being explored."
Initial funding for the lab came from the Government and it was expected to gradually become self-financing through securing corporate funding for its research activities. However, the climate of the past four years has proven extremely difficult for the lab, MIT and the international ICT sector.
The Minister for Communications, Marine & Natural Resources, Mr Noel Dempsey, commenting on the closure, said: "I appreciate the efforts made by all parties involved in MLE and note its success in creating a research laboratory unique in Europe." He added "I would especially like to thank MIT for their assistance and expertise over the years. Unfortunately the model is not a sustainable one in the current climate."