The where and when won’t be announced for another few weeks, but well-placed sources suggest that the Rolling Stones are definitely bringing their latest world tour to Dublin in the summer of 2006, with Croke Park among the venues being considered.

Dismissing reports that it’s the Stones’ final stand, Mick Jagger says: “We don’t plan that this is the last tour, and we we certainly don’t announce it. I think that’s a trap to try and get people to buy your tickets and say, ‘Well, I’ll never see them again’. We take each tour as it comes.”

Sir Mick also revealed that they’re applying the finishing touches to their first new album since 1997’s Bridges To Babylon.

“It’s about 85% done and kicks some ass,” he enthuses. “We tried to make it very wide-ranging and very hard-hitting, but it’s got its sensitive moments.”

One of the tracks, ‘Oh No, Not You Again’, got an airing when the Stones entertained the press conference crowd at New York’s Julliard music school with a brief set that also included ‘Start Me Up’ and ‘Brown Sugar’.

While all that was said about Europe, South America and the Far East is that they will be coming, the Stones confirmed details of a 35-date American trek, which will kick off on August 21 in Boston’s Fenway Park baseball stadium.

It’s not all reaching out to the bleachers though, with the promise of a few club and theatre gigs along the way.