So you want to go to U2? Well, you’re going to have to look lively as the tickets, which go on sale on Monday morning at 9am, will be gone before you can belt out a rousing chorus of One and tickets haven’t attracted so much interest since Willy Wonka came up with his greatest marketing wheeze.
Unfortunately, the two Belfast and four Dublin gigs will go ahead with or without you.
Such is the demand for the homecoming that tickets are already selling on reselling websites for over € 400 a pop.
You don’t really want to spend that kind of cash and you might not have to if you follow our short guide to getting your hands on tickets.
1 You have a Ticketmaster account, right? If the answer to this question is no, then you really should sort it out now. Believe us when we say there will be absolutely no point in trying to set one up as the tickets go on sale.
2 If you do have an account now might be a good time to make sure you remember your user name and password. Trying to remember whether you went with your dog's name or your first born child's as beads of sweat form on your ticketless brow is not how you want your week to start. Oh, and remember that Ticketmaster uses Verified by Visa. '"What's that?" you say. For some people it is proof that the devil exisits. For others it is just another hoop to jump through before they get their preciious tickets. For everyone, it will be another password to remember.
3 Turn on your computer in good time. Computers know when you're in a hurry and when they sense that time is pressing they start moving grindingly slowly just to wind you up. So don't give your machine the chance to toy with you - turn it on early and log in to your Ticketmaster account by 8.55am at the very latest.
3 Double check you're in the right place on the site and have selected the right concert. Bear in mind tickets for the last show - which is a Saturday night - are likely to sell out first so you might improve your chances slightly by going for a ticket for November 23rd or 24th.
4 At 8.58 start refreshing the Ticketmaster event page until the "more info" button becomes a "view tickets" button. Hitting the F5 key is the fastest way to refresh your browser. Do not lose the run of yourself - if you hit the button too many times in rapid succession, Ticketmaster might grow displeased and could mistake you for a ticekt hoovering up robot and block your computer from accessing the site website for a few crucial minutes. Refresh the page every two or three seconds.
5 Have only one browser window open. If you try to load multiple browsers, you might get an error message.
6 The best way to get around the solitary browser rule is to have more than one device on the go. If there are two laptops and an iPad in your house have them all open and ready to go. A top tip is to have each device open on a different day's concert. You will have to direct them all like a skilled orchestra conductor. You might as well download the Ticketmaster app to your phone too. We've heard whispers - unconfirmed whispers, it must be said - that the app is a slightly faster route to tickets.
7 When the "view tickets" button becomes available you're going to have to be all ar nos na gaoithe about it. Select the number of tickets you wish to buy - a ceiling of two per buyer has been set.
8 Make sure you have the default best available option selected. Now is not the time for faffing about and wondering whether you want to sit in row F or row G.
9 Type the irritating captcha code thing carefully - you don't want to get it wrong. At this stage you have secured tickets but you have two minutes and 45 seconds to move to the next phase of the ticket buying process. You only need two seconds though. After this screen, you are brought through the payment process. And you're done.
10 Remember that this is a "Paperless" event at least for the standing areas. This means that the credit card used at the time of booking is needed to gain entry so transferring or flogging unwanted standing tickets will be extremely difficult.
