Garth Brooks Irish concerts: Council decision 'cannot be appealed'

Garth Brooks had been booked for five shows on consecutive nights at Croke Park in July and said he will stage "five shows or none at all"

A decision to refuse permission for two of five Garth Brooks shows in Dublin later this month cannot be changed or reversed, Dublin City Council has said.

The US star was due to stage five shows at Croke Park stadium on 25-29 July.

When the council refused permission for two of the dates, Brooks said he would do "five shows or none at all".

On Friday evening, Dublin City Council said "event licence decisions made under the Planning & Development Acts cannot be amended or appealed".

About 400,000 fans have booked tickets for the five sold-out concerts but permission has only been granted for shows on 25, 26 and 27 July.

'Main concern'

Within the last 24 hours, the future of all five Irish dates was put in doubt after Brooks compared having to choose between concert dates to being asked "to choose one child over another".

The singer said he had "faith that Dublin City Council will make the best decision for the people of Ireland".

The council has now released a new statement, outlining the timeline of events from the date the tickets went on sale, to its refusal to grant the licences earlier this week.

"Dublin City Council has been consistent (since it was confirmed that tickets were sold for five concerts) in informing the promoter and his agents that its main concern was the impact that five consecutive concerts would have on the local area," the statement said.

Many residents living near Croke Park stadium complained their area is "locked down" during major concerts and objected to the unprecedented number of gigs on consecutive nights.

'Not formally consulted'

More than 370 people wrote to the council outlining their concerns about the Brooks shows.

The council's statement also confirmed that the promoter, Aiken Promotions, submitted its application for a five-night outdoor event licence on 17 April - more than two months after the 400,000 tickets were sold.

"It should be noted that the promoter could have lodged the licence application at any stage, including before the tickets went on sale last February," the council added.

The statement said Dublin City Council was "not formally consulted by the promoter prior to the tickets going on sale" but added that there was no requirement for such consultation.

It also confirmed that council staff met the concert promoter and venue management several times in June to discuss the licence application and their plans to stage the events.

"Dublin City Council planning department made it clear at these meetings no decision had been made on the application at that time," the local authority added.

Deadline

The council said that when it considers event licence applications it "must adhere to the procedures laid down in the attendant Planning Act and Regulations".

It added that having regard to existing rules, a decision was made "to grant the event licence subject to conditions, one of which was to reduce the number of concerts from five to three".

The organiser of the concerts Peter Aiken, from Aiken Promotions, earlier said he had no indication that the council would reject the five concerts and described the move as "unbelievable".

Mr Aiken said his company had followed their usual procedure for applying for the licences.

"In every way we went, we did it exactly how we've done every other show in Ireland.

"The deadline for the licence application is 10 weeks. We had it in 14 weeks beforehand," he added.

Mr Aiken also dismissed reports the concerts could be staged at a different venue and said: "It's Croke Park or nowhere."