Ten arrests at Slane as fans welcome U2 home

Ten people have been arrested and over 115 drug seizures were made at the Slane concert today as music fans enjoyed the build…

Ten people have been arrested and over 115 drug seizures were made at the Slane concert today as music fans enjoyed the build up to the first performance by U2 on home soil since 1997.

U2 Slane 2001
The Edge and Bono perform on stage at Slane Castle this evening

The band took to the stage shortly after 8 p.m. to be greeted by an enthusiastic crowd of about 80,000 fans.

Tonight's was the first of two U2 shows on successive Saturdays.

Gardaí said the arrests during the day were in connection with public order offences and minor drug offences.

Earlier this afternoon a garda spokesman at the concert told ireland.commost of the drug seizures involved only small amounts of cannabis and ecstasy.

Over 100 forged tickets were also confiscated and the ticket-holders were turned away from the concert entrance.

Slane 2001
Red Hot Chilli Peppers leader singer Anthony Kiedis performing at Slane Castle today.

For the most part, however, the crowd has been well-behaved, the spokesman said.

"The sun is shining and it is a good day so far," he said.

The entertainment at Slane kicked off at 12.30 a.m. with Northern band Relish taking to the stage. They were followed by Dublin’s JJ72 and Kelis from the US. Then the popular Coldplay took over at about 4.30 p.m. with Red Hot Chilli Peppers coming on stage at around 6 p.m.

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