IRELAND’S HOPES OF becoming a new European centre for weather forecasting have been dashed as the city of Bonn was chosen instead. 

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) has gone for the German city, noting that Bonn is “at the heart of Europe and very well connected”. 

It means that Bonn will see a new facility built between 2023 to 2025 that will feature a 16 storey glass tower. Staff will begin working in the city in a temporary location from next year. 

Ireland had bid to be the location for the new centre with a government plan that would have seen it located in Cherrywood, Dublin and the creation of 250 jobs. 

The ECMWF is not an arm of the EU but is an independent intergovernmental organisation that provides weather data to member states. 

The organisation was forced to make some changes because of Brexit and open offices in new locations that are eligible for EU funding. 

The ECMWF will still be headquartered in Reading but this new centre in Bonn is in addition to another one in Bologna, Italy that is due to open in 2022.

The selection of Bonn was made by a panel of representatives from non-bidding member states.

The team noted that Bonn was home to “numerous UN agencies” and had a “clear strategic advantage” as being “within a radius of only a few hundred kilometres” of a number of other EU countries. 

Ireland also lost on on previous post-Brexit bids to be the host to the European Banking Authority and European Medicines Agency.