Film shoot pumped £4m into Wexford

February 1998

The Wexford economy benefitted to the tune of £4 million last summer thanks to the three and a half week filming of Spielberg’s ‘Saving Private Ryan’ in Curracloe.

The Wexford Film Commission has just released official figures which give a breakdown of where the movie megabucks were spent in Wexford during the film shoot, which gave direct employment to over 200 people in the area.

The largest portion of the £4 million spent went on location and construction costs, contractor and environmental services, hardware, stationery, and other miscellaneous items which amounted to £1.5 million.

Approximately £1,250,000 was spent on accommodation and living expenses; £300,000 on the direct labour payroll; £270,000 on transport and fuel, and £650,000 on expenditure relating to army and FCA personnel and miscellaneous items.

According to Wexford Film Commission chairman, Cllr. Tommy Carr, the expenditure was spread over a wide area of the county, from Rosslare through to Gorey.

The success of the film, and the fact that record-breaking director Steven Spielberg and Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks were involved, has also led to a number of enquiries from other film-makers about using Wexford as a location.