With exterior building work completed, the International Rugby Experience in Limerick city centre opened its doors to a select group of local and national stakeholders yesterday, giving a glimpse of what we might expect when it opens up early in 2023. It will be pretty spectacular.
Experience designers Event, responsible for some of the most well-known visitor attractions and museums across the globe including Titanic Belfast and EPIC – The Irish Emigration Museum in Ireland as well as major attractions across the UK, Europe and the world, are overseeing the installation of beyond state of the art immersive, audio-visual experiences which will turn the centre into one of the island’s most popular tourist attractions.
It will also serve as the story of Rugby, its players, teams, values and more.
The project was originally conceived by JP McManus who has assembled a strong team of professionals and volunteers to bring the project to life.
Among them is Chair of the Advisory Board Paul O’Connell, fresh from the Emerging Ireland Tour of South Africa and in fine form at yesterday’s event.
“We’re delighted to be at this stage of what has been a very exciting project to date,” he said.
“We’re really looking forward to welcoming the public through our doors shortly, and for them to enjoy the array of national and international names that have kindly agreed to be a part of our Experience.”
“Approximately 100,000 visitors are expected in year one so it is really a case of hitting the ground running.”
“We are creating an experience here at the heart of the city. We wanted to fo something for the sport and the city. What we have done is taken great moments and mix them with personal stories to create what will be very special for Rugby fans from around the world but also a great fun day out for all the family,” said CEO Barry Hannon speaking to Sport for Business yesterday.”
Experience designer and Event Communications CEO James Alexander described the six zones inside the new building, each completely different from the next. He had been forced to miss an official opening by King Charles 111 of a new Tourism experience in Glasgow which he had designed to be there yesterday.
Visitors will be taken on a journey – from grass roots level through to what makes someone a legend of the game – with each stage rooted in World Rugby’s five key values of passion, discipline, integrity, solidarity and respect.
Vast media installations will bring all the exciting energy of the game to life. Immersive theatre spaces will re-live some of the most famous moments in rugby history, and a series of huge, game-style interactive trials will put the visitor’s running, kicking and passing skills to the test. We will be given kicking tips by Jonny Wilkinson and running tips by Keith Earls among others.
“The International Rugby Experience is the home of great rugby stories, gathered from all corners of the globe and featuring tales from across the generations,” said Alexander. “But more than simply a feast of statistics and rugby facts and figures, it is a fully-immersive, hands-on, multi-sensory experience designed to engage and inspire.”
“Targeted at families seeking a fun day out as well as ardent rugby fans seeking to ‘deep dive’ into the detail, the International Rugby Experience is one of a kind and a ‘must see’ in Ireland’s rugby heartland.”
The Experience is set to open early in the new year and will feature past and present rugby union players from Ireland and beyond. Stays Perform, from their European Base in the City, have been commissioned to provide the statistics and the data that will be on display, and other local, as well as international experts, have been brought into the loop.
Fáilte Ireland were also present at the soft launch event and have committed to putting their full heft behind the not-for-profit enterprise.
An independent economic impact study has determined the International Rugby Experience will drive approximately €50 million in tourism revenue to the Limerick and Mid-West region in the five years after the doors open, with some €14m of that coming from overseas visitors.
There will be over 50 people employed in the building at peak season in a wide variety of roles. The footfall will also support a number of additional jobs in the local economy once open and there were over 400 employed during the construction phase.
The Niall McLaughlin-designed building, home to the International Rugby Experience, is a unique, 30,000 sq ft structure on Limerick’s O’Connell Street.
