Mr. Owen Keegan:

I will respond to the three issues raised by the Deputy but I will make a preliminary point which is very important. The tickets were all sold before that substantive telephone conversation where I indicated my support. At that stage, if I had said I was totally opposed to this concert, there was a huge problem. I just want to be clear about that. Mr. Keogan will deal with all the contacts we had.

With regard to point No. 6 of Mr. Aiken's submission, the fact is I got a phone call out of the blue on the evening of 1 February to tell me they were going ahead with selling tickets for a fourth and a fifth show. I have to admit I had no idea that there was even a concert coming up or that three had already been sold. I had been recently appointed as city manager and I really had no idea of what the issues were around it. All I told them was: "Thank you for telling me." The contrast in the meeting on the 12th was that I was accompanied by Mr. Keogan and Mr. Downey, who have considerable experience. When it was raised by Mr. Aiken at that meeting, they made it clear it would be a very big ask. I just want to put those two meetings in perspective.

To go back to the issue that arose on 2 July, and we covered this in detail at the last meeting, a decision had not been made. I was aware there was a draft report with a recommendation and I had phoned Mr. Clarke as a matter of courtesy to advise him. He, having consulted with Mr. Aiken and Mr. Brooks, came back to me and said he would not come for three concerts. I felt it would be a major loss to the city and, in an effort to see if something could be retrieved, I did indicate that I would be prepared to discuss with the decision maker whether we could grant four. I indicated at the last meeting that, on reflection, I regret making that intervention but it was certainly motivated by a concern to retrieve the situation and achieve those benefits. A lot of people will say I should not have done that but I did it. It was of no consequence, as it happened, because they were not prepared to come for four either and, on that basis, I told them I had decided to go ahead and make the decision as is.