- Music
- 02 Feb 18
It's a very different tune to the one being sung by IDA Ireland...
Noel Rock is calling for the anti-touting Private Members' Bill he submitted last year to the Dáil to be enacted immediately.
The Dublin North West TD wants above face value selling to be outlawed, which is at direct odds with one of the biggest secondary ticketing sites, Viagogo, receiving IDA money to beef up its Limerick operation.
"Progress is frustratingly slow," he rues. "Trying my best to push the boulder up the hill. Today’s outrageous cornering of the market by touts whose only goal is to gouge hard-working fans is an absolute disgrace and shows clearly the problem we have here. This is now happening on a weekly basis with concerts big and small, as well as larger sporting events: people know they can make a quick few quid by snapping up tickets via advance on sales, and make at least double their money back.
“If the companies charged with selling tickets wanted to stamp out this practice, they could easily have done so," he continues. "Belgium has successfully introduced legislation in this field. The Irish people are overwhelmingly in favour of legislation – with a recent Ireland Thinks poll showing 89% of people support this. The precedent is there, the support is there, now we need to step up and make this happen.”
Forgive our cynicism, but we’ve been hearing this sort of rhetoric from Fine Gael for decades, with nothing concrete ever being done.
Where The Touts Have No Shame - @NoelRock urges action as U2 fans fleecedhttps://t.co/iTBfXnwFks
— Fine Gael (@FineGael) February 2, 2018