Dublin residents hold talks over proposed Phoenix Park concerts

Concern expressed over three gigs following Swedish House Mafia trouble last year

The first of two public consultation meetings in advance of the proposed Phoenix Park concerts will take place tomorrow night.

Three concerts have been earmarked for the park with The Killers being announced for Friday, July 13th.

Mumford and Sons have been announced for the following day and there is also provision for another act to be confirmed for either July 9th or 11th.

All the concerts are subject to licence. The licence application was lodged with Dublin City Council two weeks ago and residents have five weeks to either object or seek a change to the licencing terms.

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Residents from Chapelizod have been invited to a private meeting on Monday with the promoters MCD, the Office of Public Works (OPW) and Dublin City Council.

Local people are anxious to avoid a repeat of last year where the Swedish House Mafia concert was marred by drunkenness and anti-social behaviour both inside and outside the concert venue.

Chapelizod Residents' Association chairman John Martin said all the residents affected by the concerts wanted reassurances that there would be no repeat of what happened last year.

He described the consultation process as a “PR exercise” and only done to mollify residents who have objected to any further concerts in the grounds of the park.

“There were major repercussions last year. We were promised that public meetings would be held. That never happened. We learned through the press that these concerts were going ahead again. We thought there would be an opportunity to be given the information and reflect on it,” he said.

“If the application is passed by Dublin City Council without assurance s being given to the community, we will look for an injunction or judicial review.”

A further meeting will be held on April 3rd with residents from the Navan Road and Castleknock areas of the park.

Navan Road community council PRO Pat Allison said they were disappointed that the meetings were being confined to three residents representatives from local associations.

“We maintain that it should be a major public meeting for the people of Dublin who love the Phoenix Park and want their say,” she said.

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy

Ronan McGreevy is a news reporter with The Irish Times