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Garth Brooks 'biggest loser' in Dublin concerts row Garth Brooks Dublin concert hearing delayed for more talks
(about 3 hours later)
US country singer Garth Brooks has said he is the biggest loser from the cancellation of his five concerts in Dublin's Croke Park. An Irish government committee hearing on why Garth Brooks' five Dublin gigs were shelved has been postponed, as talks to salvage the shows continue.
Planned negotiations on the events on Friday have been postponed and an idea to replace two evening concerts with two matinees has now been ruled out. The concert promoter and a senior GAA official were due to appear before politicians on Friday.
Garth Brooks spoke at length about the cancelled concerts in Dublin, during a live broadcast from Nashville. However, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications said it wanted to "provide the space for negotiations to continue unimpeded".
He said the system of licensing concerts was wrong. Brooks has ruled out replacing two shows with matinee performances.
He said he would swim, crawl or fly to meet the Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny to try to have the concerts approved. 'Not feasible'
A meeting planned for the Irish parliament between the GAA and Aiken Promotions has been postponed, but a government spokesman said they were hopeful that progress made so far would lead to a successful outcome. The US country singer had planned to stage five concerts at Croke Park between Friday 25 July and Tuesday 29 July, but earlier this month, the council only granted a licence for three concerts following objections from some residents.
However, hopes have been dashed that the two cancelled concerts could be replaced by two matinees. Dublin City Council said on Thursday it had accepted a proposal by Aiken Promotions for afternoon shows, as these would still fall within the three-day licence it had granted.
In a statement, Dublin City Council said the proposal for matinees was made by Aiken Promotions. The idea was criticised by Brooks, and the promoter later said it was "not feasible".
Under the proposals, Saturday 26 July and Sunday 27 July daytime gigs would take place between 14:00 BST and 18:00 BST, with the night-time concerts from 20:00 BST to 23:00 BST. Ruling out playing two concerts on Saturday and Sunday between 2pm and 6pm, then 8pm to 11pm, Brooks said: "To treat 160,000 people differently than all the rest and to see a show other than how it was meant and created is wrong."
The council accepted the deal on the basis that it would still be within the legislative framework of the three-day licence. Brooks has repeatedly insisted he will play all five concerts or none at all.
However, the idea was criticised by Garth Brooks and now Aiken promotions have said the proposal "is not feasible". The shows were called off on Tuesday and ticket-holders have been given information on how to obtain refunds.
Last week, Dublin City Council granted permission for only three of five planned concerts in Croke Park later this month. Despite this, fans are holding out hope that the concerts still go ahead, as talks about finding a solution continue.
All five were called off on Tuesday. Brooks told a news conference in Nashville on Thursday that if Irish prime minister Enda Kenny wanted to speak with him, he would "crawl, swim and fly over".