Rolling Stones set for Croke Park after special licence granted

Residents criticise council decision to ‘ignore’ the concerns of residents

Croke Park has planning permission to host three ‘special events’ per year under its special events licence.
Croke Park has planning permission to host three ‘special events’ per year under its special events licence.

The Rolling Stones are set to play Croke Park in May after Aiken Promotions was granted special permission for the stadium to host a fourth concert this year.

Croke Park has planning permission to host three "special events" per year under its special events licence granted by Dublin City Council but event promoters can apply for additional special event licences.

The promoter said in a statement on Tuesday that it had received notification of the granting of the licence for the Dublin date of the Stones - No Filter tour which will see the band perform in the UK as well as Berlin, Marseille, Stuttgart, Prague and Warsaw.

The granting of the licence for the show on May 17th means there will be four concerts at the venue this year with Taylor Swift to play two dates in June, while Michael Bublé is lined up to play a concert in July.

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Tickets for the Rolling Stones concert go on sale on Friday starting at €70.45 for standing, up to €181 for “gold standard”.

The Clonliffe and Croke Park Area Residents’ Association, which represents the people who live within the cordoned-off area around the stadium, criticised the council’s decision to grant the licence.

Pat Gates, the group's chairman, said he was "extremely disappointed" that the local authority "chose to ignore the objections from numerous local residents and the previous decision of An Bord Pleanála to limit the number of concerts".

“An Bord Pleanála set the limit of three concerts in the interests of safety and public health,” he said.

“So we assume that the council will now take responsibility for breaching this limit and implement extra measures to protect the community and make compensation for any loss or damage that we may suffer.

“Many residents now fear that Croke Park will apply for licences for even more concerts next year, especially now that the GAA plans not to hold inter-county games during the month of April.”

Colm Stephens, a spokesman for the group, said living next to Croke Park during a concert was like living next to night club with 80,000 people in it.

“On top of that, Aiken Promotions plan 18 continuous days of construction work and rehearsals between the hours of 8 am and as late as 1 am before and after the concert,” he said.

“The resulting noise and disruption is an unacceptable intrusion into ordinary people’s lives and is made worse by the fact that the concert is planned for a school night when many young people are preparing for Leaving and Junior Cert or college exams.”

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter