Garth Brooks can save the day for his fans

6 July 2014

by Cllr Joe Costello

The decision by the City Manager to grant permission for three Garth Brooks concerts in Croke Park in July 2014 is final and irrevocable.  There is neither time nor legal mechanism for a reversal or change of the decision.

The blame game is in full swing.  All the hand wringing and expressions of outrage are useless.  Likewise the well-intentioned petitions and City Council debates are futile.

The Mulvey report is for future negotiations with the residents.

The immediate requirement is to save the three concerts and accommodate nearly quarter of a million fans.   The ball is now firmly in the court of the promoter, Aitken Promotions and the artist, Garth Brooks.

They, and only they, can save the day.  They can reverse their initial decision that it would be five concerts or none – and agree to stage three concerts now.

Moreover, the final two concerts could also be saved in the context of a Garth Brooks World Tour that would finish next year and could finish in Ireland and in Croke Park.

Such a compromise solution would produce five concerts, satisfy the majority of the fans, embrace the reputation of Garth Brooks, give a major economic boost to the economy of Ireland and give Kieran Mulvey time to mediate a permanent agreement between the local residents and Croke Park.