The first €33m (£26m) purpose-built opera house in Ireland, has opened in Wexford.

The 7,235sq m Wexford Opera House has been built on the former site of the Theatre Royal and will be home to the annual Wexford Festival Opera. The project was managed by the Office of Public Works, in association with UK-based Keith Williams Architects, and is 4.5 times larger than the former venue and comprises of a main 864-seat auditorium – the O'Reilly Theatre – and the Jerome Hynes Theatre, which has the retractable seating capacity of 175.

The venue also includes five bars, a 'Green Room' and a café The development was funded by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and the Wexford Festival Foundation. Arup, acoustic consultants for the Royal Opera House and the London Coliseum, helped design the performance space.

An Taoiseach (the Irish prime minister), Mr Brian Cowen, said:“The Wexford Festival is one of Ireland’s most important cultural events and this landmark structure provides a state-of-the-art opera house and a centre of cultural and artistic activity, worthy of the Festival.” Wexford Festival Opera runs from 16 October - 2 November 2009. Details: wexfordopera.com