Garth Brooks and Croke Park : Boss to intervene?

[screenexile]

I'm sure Aiken would have to have some kind of contingency for concerts not being put on. Refund of the ticket would be the most you could expect I would imagine though!

[manfromdelmonte]

Aiken have made a fortune on the ticket money sitting in a bank account somewhere.

[J OGorman]

If Garth is so devastated and wants to not disappoint his fans, I have a solution. He is allowed to perform the 2 shows and all profits after costs go to an agreed upon charity/charities (not the residents fund). If it's all about the fans, let him put his money where his mouth is; otherwise the greedy fat fcuk should shut up and settle for the 3 dates.

Either way he's not going to cancel the 3 concerts and lose out on the cash. There are very few other countries he can sell his bog merchant tripe, so he be best ripping off people performing where he can.

Of course Brooks and co would play whatever shows was put in front og them, 5 x 80,000 crowd gigs..sweet lord.
However, the real greed here lays at the feet of Aiken promotions (Croke Pk and the Brooks team not blameless) . MCD, Aiken and Ticketmaster have completely ripped the hole clean out of concert prices for years. Aiken would have pushed the bejesus out of this to get the 3rd, 4th and 5th with their big ally, the shysters at Ticketmaster. Absolute fair play to the residents for standing up for themselves, but at the same time its a balls for those who have booked tix, hotels and of course the thousands flying to Ireland for these shows. Bit of a balls alround

[haranguerer]

If Garth is so devastated and wants to not disappoint his fans, I have a solution. He is allowed to perform the 2 shows and all profits after costs go to an agreed upon charity/charities (not the residents fund). If it's all about the fans, let him put his money where his mouth is; otherwise the greedy fat fcuk should shut up and settle for the 3 dates.

I'd say that is exactly what will happen, but it will be the residents fund

[The Biff]

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before, but in 2001, U2 sold out a concert in Slane and the clamour rose for a second gig to be put on.

Problem - no Planning Permission for a second concert in Slane in the same year.

Solution - recall the Dáil for an Emergency session in the summer, and rush through emergency legislation to change the Planning Laws just to allow the extra concert.

http://www.atu2.com/news/u2-asked-to-pay-for-second-slane-show.html

So if it could happen then, couldn't it happen now?  When the powerful lobby groups get onto Enda & Co about the damage to Ireland's reputation about this new version of "cant organise a piss-up in a brewery", I can see the pressure being put on Aiken Promotions and the GAA to basically concede to run the last few concerts on a break-even basis, and use the extra cash to soften the blow for the local residents.

Everybody has a price.  It's just a case of working out what it is, and finding someone to pay it.  Rules can be changed.  It has happened before; it will happen again.  I reckon these 5 concerts will all go ahead, not because of Garth's ultimatum, but because repairing the international image of "Ireland Inc" (after the Celtic Tiger lost its bite) is too important and too delicate to be let fail.

[ziggysego]

Casement residents & Croke Park residents would be fairly closely linked.

In what ways?

In that they're both a small bunch of bullies prepared to use their position to thwart and stymie plans which can benefit the many

What's a bit of an unfair assessment.

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

I don't think so

[From the Bunker]

Questions:

Why were tickets sold for concerts that there was no licence for?
What level of noise pollution are there from these concerts?
How restricted are residents to go from and get back to their homes by car by these concerts?
Has there ever been any damage caused to any of the residents due to an event held in Croke Park.
How does the setting up/taking down of the stage, amplifiers etc affect the residents?
Should there be any regard for residents who live near a stadium/venue?
Was there an agreement on the number concerts that could be held in Croke Park each year or was that just here say?
The ticket says that the concert will happen subject to licence. Well there is a licence for 3 concerts. So do the promoters have to fulfill this agreement to do the three nights?
If the Concert is cancelled will the ticket holders get back all of the money they spent on the ticket? The ticket price plus the handling fee?

[Tyrone Dreamer]

I'm not a garth brooks fan but this is a crazy decision. Given the economic climate over the past few years I can't believe Dublin council is putting something that could generate tens of millions for the city in doubt over 373 complaints. When you consider the number of people living in the area these people aren't even the majority in the area.

People can talk about an agreement in 2009 with the residents but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture. It's a fact how much money this will generate. 70000 tickets were sold outside Ireland for starters. The majority of these people will need transport, somewhere to stay, food etc. Even internally the concert was encouraging people to spend large sums of money.

400000 tickets sold and it was a great opportunity to promote tourism and bring something positive to Dublin. The complaints look extremely selfish and are taking away a great opportunity for the area. Huge money would or will be spent in the local economy in shops bars restaurants hotels croke park itself which helps drive the economy locally and creat jobs. Plus the gaa was going to directly pump half a million into the area which makes this even more ludicrous.

If this isn't worth a bit of a disruption in the middle of the summer then I don't know what is. Any other part of Ireland would be crying out for the money to come into their area and to show it off. On the Monday and Tuesday night I'm sure the residents could have made alternative arrangements given it was a one off. Leave work early, stay later, or walk into town or to a bus would have been options. And concerts would be over at a reasonable hour so it wouldn't be keeping people up. Would it be to crazy to soak up the atmosphere and buzz they'd bring to the area?

As mentioned there was an agreement a few years ago to cut down the number of concerts in a year, But this really was a one off opportunity to get a world star to kick off his world tour in Ireland. It certainly wouldn't be happening every year. And when you consider back then soccer and rugby were played in croke park there's a lot less disruption these days anyway.

[Maguire01]

Questions:

Why were tickets sold for concerts that there was no licence for?

This is standard practice for big outdoor gigs, even festivals.

[Wildweasel74]

world star, hes done nothing of note for years, think it show the amount of country hillbillies we have in ireland, keep it country lol

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

Questions:
What level of noise pollution are there from these concerts?

I think it very much depends on who's playing. If it was say the Rolling Stones  or the Killers anything over 100 decibels would be considered unacceptable. As regards Garth Brooks I'd assume anything above 2 or 3 decibels would be pretty intolerable

[EC Unique]

So a man wants to come into Ireland and put on a show. He sells out for 5 nights. He is told he can only do 3 which will mean the local economy will lose out on tens of millions in the middle of a resession. All to keep a few locals happy. Mean while people who have no interest in the show think it is a great laugh to see others disappointed and millions of euros lost. How typically Irish. 

[cockahoop]

Police in Mid-Ulster have admitted they're at breaking point after it emerged Garth Brooks will not be hosting a 5-day concert series in Croke Park and will be performing for 3 days instead, sparking riotous scenes across Tyrone.

UN troops have been mobilised and are currently making their way across Lough Neagh by boat and are expected to reach the western coast by 5pm GMT,

Local journalists confirmed the first rioting occurred outside a music shop in Coalisland with locals pelting the store with anything that came to hand from children's dummies to hubcaps. One resident, Ronald McSherry, explained their anger:

"We've been talking about this for months now and all for what? 3 lousy days? Personally I'm not going myself as I hate his music but that's besides the point. We're being trampled over again and if we don't stand up to the authorities now it'll be something else next. Music shops all over the county are going to get some touch tonight."

When it was explained to McSherry that the music shop in question, Pat's Island Records, doesn't sell tickets and just deals in trumpets and bugles he turned on this reporter and accused me of being 'one of them'.

Riots have also broken out in Cookstown, Omagh, Strabane, Dungannon, Pomeroy and a hedge was set alight in Cappagh. Fire fighters who arrived on the scene to put the fire were pelted with turf by locals singing 'Friends In Low Places' in an angry tone.

Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has appealed for calm across Mid-Ulster and has promised to put on a free live concert in Donaghmore on those two days featuring Malachi Cush, Hugo Duncan and Philomena Begley, with unlimited hotdogs for all attendees if they stop rioting.

Meanwhile a Garth Brooks spokesman has confirmed, that in order to calm tensions, they'll possibly consider doing an over-the-Internet concert from his home if riots continue into a second day.

[THE MIGHTY QUINN]

So a man wants to come into Ireland and put on a show. He sells out for 5 nights. He is told he can only do 3 which will mean the local economy will lose out on tens of millions in the middle of a resession. All to keep a few locals happy. Mean while people who have no interest in the show think it is a great laugh to see others disappointed and millions of euros lost. How typically Irish. 

For the first time in my life I agree with you. Don't get me wrong I hate Garth Brooks with a vengeance but each to their own. As I said earlier a few local bullies misuse a position of strength just because they can