SETU Arena is a conference and events center on the West Campus at Carriganore, on the outskirts of Waterford city. Its main hall covers about 2,000 square meters and holds 2,000 people seated or 5,000 standing. The venue describes itself as the largest conference and events center in the south-east of Ireland, and it sells the hall for business events of every size, from national conferences and exhibitions to smaller gatherings.
Seminars and company events
Corporate events are the first use listed on the official events page. The hall can serve large and small conferences, expos and trade shows. It can be used as one space or broken down into smaller sections, so the same building can take a plenary of several hundred people or a more intimate half-day meeting. For breakouts, the venue also has meeting rooms and studios of different sizes. The site does not give a size or capacity for each of them, so ask for the list that fits your program.
The testimonials on the site come from the kind of organisers the venue works with. They include an awards ceremony for an education and training board, a regional dialogue event organised by the university, and a commemoration of the first flying of the Irish tricolour flag. The authors thank the reception team, mention the refreshments and comment on the quality and quantity of the food.
Rooms and capacities
The events centre spans about 2,000 square meters. The venue states these figures for the hall:
Seating capacity of 2,000, including tiered seating of up to 800 seats.
Standing capacity of 5,000.
The same hall is used for concerts, orchestras and stage productions, so it is equipped for large audiences. The Arena's own program of public events, such as martial arts competitions and the Christmas pantomime, shares the calendar, so dates should be checked early.
The campus around the hall also has outdoor and indoor sports facilities: six grass pitches, two synthetic 3G pitches, ten team changing rooms, a 2,000 square meter indoor sports hall, a high performance facility, a 2.5 km outdoor running track, video analysis and meeting rooms. Groups that combine a conference with sport or team activities can ask whether these can be added to a booking.
Catering
The building houses a restaurant and the Frank & Honest Café. Event catering is provided on site: clients quoted on the site praise the refreshments and the meals served at their events. The site does not publish menus or a list of formats, so the type of service, from coffee breaks to a seated dinner, is arranged with the events team.
Facilities for visitors
Parking is available for up to 800 cars, including an EV charging station. Disabled parking is directly in front of the main entrance. High-density open Wi-Fi covers the whole building, which matters for large audiences that all connect at once. Reception staff welcome and direct attendees on arrival.
Getting there
The address is SETU Arena, West Campus, Carriganore, Waterford, X91 XD96. The venue describes itself as easily accessible from all major routes, in a setting on the outskirts of Waterford city. The reception phone number is +353 51 834444. Enquiries for corporate events go through the enquiry form on the events page.
