Garda investigationover allegations some objections were forged

Gardaí are investigating if some objections to the Garth Brooks concerts were forged.

The probe was launched by gardaí in Mountjoy, Dublin, 10 days ago.

According to a Garda spokesman, the investigation being led by Superintendent Kevin Gralton is looking at a “small number” of alleged forgeries within the overall number of objections submitted to Dublin City Council over the concerts.

Last week, in announcing its decision to grant licences for only three of the five scheduled gigs, the council said it had received 373 submissions from people opposed to them going ahead.

Claims that as many as 100 of those could be forged are thought to be wide of the mark, but gardaí are trying to determine the number of alleged forgeries and who was responsible.

The council said since the matter was now the subject of a Garda investigation, it would not be commenting.

It is not known whether the council raised the issue with the gardaí, or whether the probe was launched on foot of information gardaí received from another source.

It was reported yesterday that one woman who lives on the Clonliffe Rd, near Croke Park, was unaware that her name had been attached to an objection to the concerts until she was visited by gardaí about it.

One local group had been campaigning for the shows to go ahead. However, two separate groups of locals had objected to the shows.

The High Court had been due to hear an application today, lodged on Monday by local Brian Duff, seeking an injunction preventing the three concerts that had been licensed from going ahead.