Taoiseach Enda Kenny will not be attending this week’s Web Summit as his invitation to the event arrived too late.
No senior Irish politicians will be attending the event on its final year in Dublin before it moves on to Lisbon in 2016, as invitations were reportedly not emailed out until last Friday.
The Web Summit starts at the RDS on Tuesday, 3rd November.
“The Taoiseach has been delighted to support the web summit through his attendance over the last number of years,” a spokesperson said.
“Given that the invitation to attend this year’s event was sent last Friday and the hectic nature of his schedule, the Taoiseach will be unable to attend.
“We wish (founder) Paddy (Cosgrave) and his team continued success into the future.”
A spokesperson for the Web Summit claimed that the Taoiseach, as well as other government ministers, had a standing invitation to attend the event but these were not taken up.
Kenny has attended, and the been a vocal supporter of, the Web Summit in previous years but Cosgrave’s decision to move the event to the Portuguese capital from next year onwards has not been well received by many of those in government who see the event as important stepping stone towards foreign business investment.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
