Mr. Jim Keogan:

On the issue of consultation, as the chief executive stated, while provision is made in the regulations to avail of a formal consultation process prior to the submission of a licence application, this option was not availed of in this instance. Informal contact was made and a telephone call was made in mid-December 2013 to an officer of the city council from the venue manager indicating the possibility of two Garth Brooks concerts taking place in Croke Park in summer 2014. Our response was that they would be subject to a licence because the intention was to use the One Direction concerts as the three permitted events. Subsequent to this telephone call no other formal or informal contact took place until approximately 30 January. At that stage the two shows indicated to us had been announced, the tickets sold and a third concert added. There had been no informal or formal consultation prior to the sale of the tickets for the three concerts. A telephone call was received on 31 January by an officer of the city council from the venue manager to state it was intended to proceed with a fourth and a fifth concert and that the tickets would go on sale on Tuesday, 4 February. This was subsequently changed in so far as the tickets went on sale on Monday, 3 February.

I understand from speaking to Mr. Keegan that he received a telephone call on the Sunday evening from Mr. Jim Clarke of Aiken Promotions stating it intended to proceed with the fourth and fifth concerts, with the sale of tickets on the Monday morning. The chief executive thanked him for the courtesy of notifying him in advance but made no other formal statement. As it transpired, on approximately 12 February the chief executive, the event co-ordinator and I had a meeting which had already been arranged with Aiken Promotions on an unrelated matter about an event elsewhere in the city; it was not to deal with this issue. At the conclusion of the discussions on that issue, the matter of the concerts was raised. A note or minute was not kept of what happened at the meeting, but what was clearly stated to the promoters was that it was a big ask and that we would be dealing with an unprecedented number of events, having regard to the fact that the highest number of events per year until then was four in 2009 and that there would be serious concerns in the city council as the licensing authority about the impact the five proposed consecutive concerts would have on livelihoods and the neighbourhoods in question.

This is the sequence of events with regard to formal and informal contact. Subsequent to this the issue was raised among members of the city council at area and city council level and there was widespread media coverage of the issue. It would have been apparent to all that the proposal would be controversial and that serious issues would have to be addressed. We received the application on 17 April. This also clarifies the issue of the third, fourth and fifth concerts. I am not aware of any verbal assurance given by any officer of the city council that five concerts would be licensed. On the contrary, we always prefaced any remark by stating serious issues would be raised in processing any application that would involve five consecutive concerts.

The Chairman raised the issue of a conflict of interest or bias. I was born and bred in Clonliffe Gardens, which is in the shadow of Croke Park. I spent 25 years of my life there and my family home is still there. My son and his wife live there. I do not think this altered my decision making and judgment on the proposed applications. I did not hear it stated in 2009, when I was the relevant officer with delegated responsibility for signing off on the very controversial U2 concerts, about which public meetings were held which I attended. I had to deal with issues raised by people with whom I had grown up. I felt I had dealt with the issues in a fair and balanced manner, as I have in this instance. I do not believe there is any bias or prejudice. I no longer live there. I own the property, in which my son and his wife, but I have not lived in the area for the past 35 years.