Dublin City Council has tonight agreed to consider a fresh application that would allow all five Garth Brooks concerts at Croke Park to go ahead.
While it has been rumoured earlier this evening that two of the dates would be postponed until the end of the country star's world tour, it is now believed that efforts are underway to accommodate all five of the concerts over the weekend of Fri 25th to Sun 27th July.
In a statement, the local authority said that while the decision to refuse a license for the Mon 28th and Tuesday 28th July concerts was "appropriate and balanced", it had decided to visit the idea of hosting all five gigs at the venue in response to the "disappointment of ticket holders who purchased tickets in good faith".
"Following a meeting this morning between Peter Aiken of Aiken Promotions and Owen Keegan, Chief Executive of Dublin City Council, the City Council has agreed to a proposal from Aiken Promotions designed to break the impasse that has arisen. Under the proposal, the City Council will consider an updated Event Management Plan, to be submitted in accordance with the Licence, whereby the three concerts will proceed but the Saturday and Sunday concerts will start earlier to facilitate separate matinee audiences on these two days. This will allow everybody who bought a ticket to see Garth Brooks.
The Council is satisfied that the event licensing procedure was applied correctly in this particular case by the City Council and that the decision reached was appropriate and balanced having regard to all the competing interests. However, in response to the disappointment of ticket holders who purchased tickets in good faith for the cancelled Monday and Tuesday concerts and in light of concerns that these ticket holders could turn up on the other days creating security and public safety concerns the Council has agreed, following consultation with An Garda Siochana, to consider a revised Event Management Plan prepared on the basis outlined above. It will be a matter for Aiken Promotions and Garth Brooks to decide if they wish to pursue this suggestion."
However, it is being reported that Brooks is not in favour of performing two of the shows as matinées.
