Garth Brooks fans have been messed around but they should not blame the residents who live near Croke Park.
The real cause of the problem has been naked corporate greed. From the moment the first Garth Brooks concerts were announced you could almost see the dollar signs in the eyes of the concert promoters, Croke Park executives, profiteering hoteliers and greedy restauranteurs and publicans.
The media played its part in hyping up the sale of the concert tickets. They reported each in turn as a sell-out as the promoter rode in with three more dates. In all the razzmatazz nobody mentioned the small matter of the event licence. In fact, the concerts were never a sell-out and tickets were still on sale though the ‘official’ website right up to the eventual cancellation on 8 July. The lies about a sell-out were perpetrated to feed the frenzy and drive ticket sales.
After the concerts were announced, Croke Park and the promoters selected 25 local residents that were deemed to be compliant and invited them to a meeting to ‘consult’ on the arrangements. As word got out about the meeting 60 locals turned up uninvited. They gave the message to Croke Park and Aiken Promotions that prior commitments to consult with residents before planning any events over and the three a year allowed by planning permission had not been forgotten. The residents told that the promoters that there would be fierce opposition and that they should have a ‘plan B’ for the gigs. Now Aiken claims they had no inkling of future difficulties.
The residents got organised and two packed public meetings were held with hundreds in attendance. When the licence application was eventually made (at the last possible opportunity), an unprecedented number of 370 individual objections were lodged.
.When the city officials made their decision that allowed only three extra concerts (one more than was originally planned) all hell broke out as the profiteers saw some of their money slipping away. Hoteliers who had jacked up their rates by 400 percent wept crocodile tears for their employees. On the Dublin City Council Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin councillors reneged on previous support to the residents and voted through a motion that all five concerts should go ahead even though there was no licence for two. All five People Before Profit councillors voted against.
Garth Brooks Concerts and Corporate Greed
