Residents seek prosecutions over Garth Brooks gigs

A group of residents from the Croke Park area are to ask gardaí to prosecute both the GAA and Aiken Promotions over next month’s staging of five Garth Brooks concerts in a row.

Furious residents had agreed to only three concerts being promoted in the stadium this year, and they claim the three One Direction concerts last month have now used up the quota.

The residents plan to hand in letters to Noirín O’Sullivan, the interim Garda commissioner, that seek criminal proceedings because the Brooks gigs are being promoted before a licence has been obtained for them.

Eamon O’Brien, the chairman of the Croke Park Streets Committee, said that the GAA and the promoters are both “acting as if they are above the law”.

He insisted that the gigs should not be promoted when a licence has not yet been awarded.

“These people have to comply with the law. They shouldn’t be able to take €24m from the public with no guarantees for where the money is going,” said Mr O’Brien.

He confirmed residents were now looking at High Court action, even if criminal proceedings are carried out, adding that he believed the country music superstar could “play wherever he wants to in Ireland”.

“There’s no point in having laws if people aren’t going to respect them,” said Mr O’Brien.

Legal sources said the system of promoting concerts without a licence is common practice because of how long it takes to attain a licence.

Both Aiken Promotions and the GAA have declined to comment on the latest developments in the ongoing row.

Brooks is scheduled to play the stadium — which is set in the heart of a residential area — from July 25 to 29.

More than 82,000 fans are expected at each concert, at which Brooks will perform smash-hits such as ‘Friends In Low Places’, ‘The Dance’, and ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’.

Residents are irate over noise pollution, anti-social behaviour, litter problems, and trouble in gaining access to their dwellings.