Ireland Is The Most Difficult Place in Europe To Stage An Open-Air Show

ON SEPTEMBER 23rd, U2 get to fulfil a long-term ambition by playing their first ever show in Sarajevo. Despite huge logistical difficulties, if everything goes according to plan, upwards of 40,000 Bosnians will be able to feast their eyes on the football pitch-sized stage, 833 square yard video screen, giant McDonald s-style arch with lemon mirrorball attachment, 100 foot toothpick and 12 foot wide internally-illuminated olive that make up the PopMart extravaganza.
If you re the biggest rock n roll band on the planet, it seems you can gig anywhere you want. Except maybe in your own hometown.
When U2 announced details of their just-for-starters 68-city world tour last month, there was one vital piece of information missing from the itinerary the venue for the Dublin date on August 30th.
Unless you ve spent the past few weeks in a sensory deprivation chamber, you ll be well aware of the frantic attempts that have been made to secure the Phoenix Park for what would undoubtedly be the biggest live music event ever staged in this country. However, with Liam Lawlor of Fianna Fail one of the worst TDs in Dail Eireann jumping on the anti-rock bandwagon there is now a distinct possibility that the gig will not happen.
You can organise a gig in Sarajevo which up till recently was a war zone no bother, yet when it comes to the Phoenix Park or any other outdoor venue in Ireland, you keep running into brick walls, rues a spokesman for Jim Aiken Promotions. Croke Park isn t available, the RDS is but for various reasons isn t suitable which from our point of view leaves us with just the one option. This is a very difficult time for us. We have a process in motion which we hope will deliver U2 at the Phoenix Park and, as far as I m concerned, the less said at this moment in time the better.
Contrary to what some people would have you believe, greed has little or nothing to do with U2 s decision not to play the RDS. First off, there is a doubt as to whether the Showgrounds are big enough to accommodate what in the truest sense of the word is a stadium production. However, even assuming that the band could fit the PopMart show into the RDS, or even an alternative like Lansdowne Road, the current crazy legal situation in Ireland is that neither U2 nor anyone else can run the back-to-back gigs that d be necessary to cater for ticket demand where major acts are concerned.
The background to this farcical situation is a complicated one. However, it is quite clear that the planning laws were never intended to deal with the issue of open-air live music. As a result, in practice, at best, there is complete confusion and at worst what amounts in effect to discrimination against particular artists, as well as particular venues and particular promoters.
The current problems in putting on live open-air shows date back to the proposal to run Fiile in Mondello Park, the motor racing track in Kildare. The County Council became involved, deciding that planning permission would be required for the event and they then proceeded to turn it down.
There were extraordinary anomalies implicit in this decision. Mondello had already been granted planning permission to cater for crowds of up to 25,000 attending motor racing events. Two and three-day race meetings are quite commonplace. So why was a rock concert treated differently?
An interesting light was cast on this by the subsequent decision of An Bord Pleanala to refuse permission, which was based on the fundamental premise that concerts are a nuisance . What makes them more of a nuisance than a motor racing event was never stated, though an obvious interpretation is that music fans were being unfairly discriminated against. Subsequent developments have confirmed this fear, as different local authorities proceeded to deal with the issue in blatantly contradictory ways. The losers, inevitably, have been the fans.
It s obvious that rock n roll is being targeted, one record company executive complained to Hot Press. If somebody had wanted to do a series of shows at Mondello with the three tenors, then you can be certain that they wouldn t have encountered the slightest resistance. But because it was Fiile, the localsme of them at least rushed out to man the barricades.
It s an observation which has more than a ring of truth to it. A decision that consecutive events cannot be held in Pairc Ui Chaoimh without specific planning permission was taken recently but this ruling apparently does not apply to Croke Park, where Garth Brooks will play three nights on the trot later this year.
Given the apparently arbitrary nature of the decisions being made, promoters are naturally reluctant to run the risk of upsetting the authorities. However, all are agreed that what s required urgently is new legislation which makes sense of the current mess.
I hope that the U2 gig goes ahead in the Phoenix Park, Denis Desmond of MCD comments. And in a way you d have to say fair play to the Corporation for doing something positive to enable the event to take place. But the problem is that this is just a short-term solution and whether the gig goes ahead or not, the obstacles which have been erected in the way of running open-air live shows will still be there.
The whole U2 thing is symptomatic of the way in which planning regulations are being used or I believe abused to discriminate against music fans. And it isn t just young people either. We had a situation recently with Celine Dion where, having sold-out one night at Lansdowne Road, we wanted to put on a second show. As the law stands now, we could run on Wednesday and Friday but not Wednesday and Thursday because that amounts to consecutive use and would therefore require planning permission.
That this is a farcical situation goes without saying. The question now is whether or not the political parties are going to have the bottle to deliver the required legislation. It s a call which is supported by Jim Aiken Promotions, who believe that it s time for the authorities to acknowledge just how important the music industry is to Ireland.
I don t think anyone deliberately constructed this situation, their spokesman resumes, but as a result of the Slane judgement, it s harder to organise a major outdoor event here than it is in any other country in Europe. What we need is a process which respects all of the planning and health and safety issues but, at the same time, delivers a mechanism which is manageable and appropriate to the circumstances. There s a General Election coming up and what Hot Press should be doing, is ensuring that this issue is placed on the political agenda. Otherwise, we re going to be left with a situation where major international stars are forced to by-pass Ireland.
That sentiment is echoed by Denis Desmond who points out that, as things now stand, we wouldn t be able to do what we did last year and bring Oasis in for two back-to-back gigs in Pairc Um Chaoimh. We want to do something big with them in 1998 and, realistically, the only place we can use is the Phoenix Park. If it was a festival, fine, you d have to take camping into consideration but, really, I don t see any difference between 50,000 people attending a G.A.A. match and 50,000 people attending a concert. As long as the site in question is already used for events be it Mondello, Punchestown, the Curragh, the RDS or whatever there shouldn t be the discrimination that there is now against music.
The general consensus seems to be that what s required is a British-style system which would zone various stadiums, parks and green-field sites for entertainment and leisure use. Within that framework, promoters would be able to apply for individual event licences which would have whatever conditions necessary attached to them.
I think it s perfectly reasonable, Denis Desmond proffers, that somewhere like the RDS, which is in a residential area, should have a 10.30 curfew. It s only fair and democratic that people should be able to have a say in relation to events that they feel will adversely effect them.
But what it shouldn t amount to is a crank s charter which is what we currently have, a point which is amplified by Melvyn Benn, who is responsible for organising the Fleadh, Tribal Gathering, Phoenix and Reading festivals for the Mean Fiddler organisation (who are hoping to stage an open-air event on Desmond Guinness estate in Leixlip later this year).
The difference between England and Ireland, he observes, is that in England you can be granted an occasional entertainment licence which allows for the running of events on specified dates. When we did the Fleadh Mor in, what, 92 or 93, you didn t really need any permissions at all, save for satisfying the safety control people that the stage wasn t going to collapse. They ve jumped from that to the rather onerous position of planning, which is primarily geared towards permanent installation. What the courts have done and this is the crux of the matter is ruled that concerts and the erection of temporary structures constitutes development and thus require planning permission.
Unlike the UK, Benn adds, where if you ve got the land-owners permission and all of the various safety, health and environmental aspects taken care of, you can run anything you like. Which is as it should be.
The full crazy implications of the Irish situation have yet to be fully tested. A strict interpretation of the current legal position would mean that events like the national ploughing championships, the Irish Golf Open and the 2FM Beat On The Street to name just three high profile events at random could not take place without specific, detailed planning permission. Indeed, when the carnival or the circus next rolls into your locale, they shouldn t be where they are they too need planning permission.
The same is true of marquees erected at race meetings, local festivals and indeed in the back gardens of the rich when it s 21st birthday party time. So are the authorities going to deal with this in an even-handed way by forcing everyone to go through the due process? Because if they don t, then music fans and rock n roll fans in particular have a right to be up in arms.
On the one hand, Denis Desmond observes, you have Meath County Council telling Henry Mountcharles that he needs planning permission to run gigs in Slane, where events have been running for 15 years which will take at least a year and on the other you have Dublin Corporation invoking Clause X of the Local Government Planning and Development Regulations to enable the Phoenix Park gig to go ahead. Anybody would have to ask the question: is that fair?
Clearly the only answer is legislation. And until we get it, this issue is going to be a source of ongoing controversy.
We ll keep you informed. n