'Nothing has changed': Laois Council refuses to grant Electric Picnic licence 

On Tuesday, Dr Tony Holohan said public health officials “wouldn’t have a major concern” about an event such as Electric Picnic going ahead if it was only attended by those who are vaccinated

Laois County Council will not grant a licence to Electric Picnic this year, crushing renewed hope the festival might go ahead this year following comments by the Chief Medical Officers.

On Tuesday, Dr Tony Holohan said public health officials “wouldn’t have a major concern” about an event such as Electric Picnic going ahead if it was only attended by those who are vaccinated.

The comments prompted Electric Picnic's organisers to call on Laois County Council to reverse their decision not to grant the festival a licence this year.

However, in a statement today, the Council said there is "no provision in law which enables Laois County Council to revisit that refusal or reconsider that application."

"Notwithstanding the comments emanating from yesterday’s press briefing from Nphet, nothing has changed as regards advice from the HSE, nor has there been any change to the Government Public Health Measures in place in respect of hosting of outdoor events, from the position that pertained on August 4." 

Furthermore, if a new application for an event licence was to be made, the statutory timelines do not allow for the processing of a new application to facilitate the event on the dates as intended in the application previously submitted, a spokesperson said.

Earlier, Denis Desmond, managing director of music promoters MCD, urged officials to reverse the decision as a matter of urgency.

"We need to get a decision today, at the latest tomorrow, we can still make it happen. If it runs until next Monday we've run out of time," he said, echoing remarks made by Festival Republic chief Melvin Benn yesterday.