Garth Brooks debacle leads to new concert licensing rules
Plans by the country superstar to play five straight nights at Croke Park were scuppered when, with up to 400,000 tickets sold, it emerged that the license for all the dates had not been granted. Dublin City Council subsequently said it was granting permission for the first three nights only.
Just hours later, Brooks declared: “For us, it is five shows or none at all.” In the end it was “none at all”.
In the aftermath of the fiasco, a review group was set up to examine event licensing regulations here and make recommendations on changes needed to prevent a repeat of the issues thrown up by the concerts.
After a number of meetings of the group, as well as consultation with the four main concert promoters, revised regulations have now been published by the Department of Environment.
The main changes include:
- It will now be mandatory for event promoters to have a pre-application consultation meeting with the relevant local authority prior to submitting an event licence application;
- Event promoters will not be entitled to advertise or sell tickets for events prior to the holding of a pre-application consultation meeting with the relevant local authority;
- Event licensing applications must be lodged with the relevant local authority at least 13 weeks in advance of the proposed event (currently 10 weeks);
- Local authorities must make their decision on an event licence application no later than four weeks in advance of the proposed event;
- Where it is proposed to add performances to a schedule already announced, a further pre-application consultation meeting will be required to take place before the announcement of any additional dates.
“In establishing the review of the event licensing regulations, I was anxious to ensure issues and confusion which arose in 2014 in relation to the licensing of specific outdoor events would not be repeated and there would be a greater level of certainty for all parties — including promoters, venue owners and residents living close by — in relation to the conducting of such events in the future,” said Environment Minister Alan Kelly.
Dublin Chamber of Commerce welcomed the revised regulations.
Chief executive Gina Quin said: “The Garth Brooks debacle last summer was embarrassing for Ireland and jeopardised our reputation as a great place to host and attend an event. The episode highlighted a flaw in our legislation and also the need for a re-think on the way that concerts are sold and licenced in Ireland.”
