Garth fallout: Laws on licences

New event licensing laws could be introduced within weeks following a major review prompted by the Garth Brooks fiasco.

The Department of the Environment has confirmed the first draft of the new laws has already been discussed by the review group which was established after the cancellation of all five Garth Brooks concerts in Croke Park last July.

The issues being considered include the minimum timeframes before an event for the submission of an event licence application to a planning authority and the making of a decision by a planning authority on such an application, public consultation arrangements on event licence applications, and pre-application meetings the various parties.

Pending the outcome of talks on possible revisions, the new laws could be enacted next month.

The news emerged last night just days after leading concert promoter Peter Aiken, who was promoting the Garth Brooks gigs, expressed frustration at the pace of reforms.

He called for a relaxation of the event licensing laws to allow Ireland stage more major international music acts.

“As a promoter and as a business person, if you’re explaining the rules here to another promoter in another country, they think it’s a crazy set-up,” said Mr Aiken.

Environment Minister Alan Kelly pledged to review the State’s event licensing regime and established a review group in October to carry out a root-and-branch review of the existing laws.

The department received about 50 submissions following public consultation last November.

Ireland’s four main concert promoters — Aiken Promotions, MCD (Denis Desmond), POD Promotions (John Reynolds) and Festival Republic — also made presentations.