Live entertainment is a thriving industry in Ireland, as a buoyant economy sees the queues at different venues grow. According to the FORTE task force, the general music industry employs "in the region of 10,000 equivalents" and is "by far the most significant employer of all the cultural industries". According to IBEC, it is worth over £160 million annually in turnover.

The Mean Fiddler's relatively small Irish operation in Dublin is "booming", said a spokeswoman, who added that gigs and concerts are trendy again since the emergence of the Britpop scene.

Mr Jim Aiken, of Aiken Promotions, one of the promoters of rock concerts in Ireland, said that, like the fashion industry, the music scene must keep re-inventing itself.

"It keeps changing. If you are on the button with fashion, you get it right and if you are not, you get it wrong."

As the original promoter behind U2 who wanted to play the Phoenix Park, he said the venue problem is exaggerated while the Irish rules are merely cumbersome.

"They had dreamed a big dream and the big dream was going to be quite expensive and maybe it was a bit foolish . . . I would have loved to have done U2, but it was not to be. I believe the Phoenix Park would have been phenomenal."