The owner of Slane Castle, Lord Henry Mountcharles, said he has been praying all week for good weather for today's open-air rock festival featuring British group The Verve. Some of the 80,000 fans attending the gig were camping in the area last night. Met Eireann is forecasting a dry, pleasant day with sunshine and high temperatures up to 20C. About 35,000 fans are expected in the RDS tonight for the Bee Gees. Meanwhile, Iarnrod Eireann said that control cards for all regular and special trains from Kerry, Cork and Limerick to Dublin on Sunday morning are sold out due to unprecedented demand for the All-Ireland semi-final at Croke Park. Only a limited number of control cards remain for trains to Dublin today. The Slane concert is a sell-out and anybody without a ticket will not be allowed past the barriers which are located on all approved routes. The Garda aerial support unit and the mounted unit will patrol the grounds.
The Garda has warned would-be gatecrashers to stay away from the nearby River Boyne because of the danger of drowning. Nine boats with Civil Defence and river rescue personnel will be in place.
Around 400 gardai will be on duty and a special court will sit in Slane village throughout the day to deal immediately with any people arrested and charged. The Garda is Gardai are expecting some public order offences and members of the national and local drug units will also be mixing with the crowd. No alcohol or tins which could contain alcohol will be allowed through the Garda barriers which will be on all major roads leading to Slane.
Only vehicles with Garda passes - emergency vehicles and those belonging to local residents - will be allowed beyond the barriers. There will be large car parks adjacent to all the Garda roadblocks, with toilets. The Verve take the stage at 8.30 p.m.