Madam, - How dare MCD productions patronise us with its comments after the Barbra Streisand concert debacle. The chaos was not caused by the weather but by organisational incompetence and MCD should own up to it.
The gates opened at 6pm for an 8pm start and you would presume that the promoters had done their calculations. How did they expect the vast majority of the 17,000 concert-goers to gain access via a one-lane roadway, park and be in their seats in time? Not possible! In fact fans were still trying to park after 9.30pm. - Yours, etc,
PETER COSGRAVE,
Leopardstown Court,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - MCD's statement that a "small number of opportunistic fans" sat in the wrong seats is a cop-out. We paid €550 each for our seats and on arrival found not "a small number of opportunistic fans" but a very large number of obedient audience members being told by stewards to sit in any available seat. The inevitable happened when latecomers arrived rightly demanding their seats. The bottom line is that the promoter had too few stewards, and not enough resources to cater for the 17,000 fans who endured getting to and from this badly chosen venue. MCD sure as heck rained on my parade. - Yours, etc,
FRANK BEADLE,
Greenville Terrace,
Dublin 8.
Madam, - The publicity surrounding the dreadful organisation at the Barbra Streisand concert at Castletown House is truly deserved. It was awful. However, it is a credit to Ms Streisand's professionalism that she delivered a magical evening unperturbed by the delay to the concert's start and the crowd seeking seats for most of the first half of her performance.
I feel that the organisers owe an apology to Ms Streisand. It is rare we attract a true talent and cultural icon of her standing and the concert organisers were truly disrespectful of the occasion. - Yours, etc,
RÓNÁN COLLINS,
Oaktree Drive,
Castleknock,
Dublin 15.