Garda operation will smooth the path to Slane

ALL roads lead to Slane this weekend as the Red Hot Chilli Peppers get set to rock 80,000 fans.

Gardaí have announced a major security and traffic operation for one of the favourite events in the Irish music calendar.

The plan is designed to ensure that the traffic chaos which marred this summer’s concert by Eminem at Punchestown Racecourse in Co Kildare will not be repeated at Slane.

Fans are being advised that there will be no admittance to the concert site before 11am.

The sole homegrown act on the bill, Halite, will kick off the 10-hour plus feast of music at midday. Other performers include Morcheeba, Feeder, PJ Harvey, Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters before Red Hot Chilli Peppers take to the stage at 8.30pm.

Doubts about the standing of the Chilli Peppers as a major attraction were swept aside when the concert sold out within hours of tickets going on sale.

It is the sixteenth major concert staged at Slane Castle since 1981.

Gardaí also issued their annual warning that bathing is strictly prohibited in the section of the River Boyne which flows directly behind the concert site.

Fans were also advised to beware of purchasing tickets from unofficial sources as all 80,000 tickets have already been sold. Stringent security checks on tickets will be carried out on all approach roads throughout the day.

Fans travelling to the concert by car from the south and west are encouraged to follow the N3 to Navan and then the N51 to Slane. Wheelchair users are also being advised to approach Slane from Navan via the same route to avail of special car parking facilities near the concert site.

People travelling from the northside of Dublin are asked to follow the M1 while fans travelling from Northern Ireland are advised to follow either the N2 to Slane or the M1 to the Dunleer intersection and then via Collon to the concert.

Dublin Bus are running services at 20 minute intervals to Slane from 10am-4pm from Parnell Square West outside the Rotunda Hospital. Tickets, which must be bought in advance, are priced €17. Bus Éireann will operate a similar service between 10am and 1pm from Mountjoy Square for the same price.

A shuttle service will also operate between Drogheda and Slane between 11am and 5pm from the bus station in the town.

Return services on all routes will begin directly after the concert ends.

The village of Slane will be closed to all through traffic on Saturday, while part of the N2 will be closed on Friday with diversions in place.