Terry Brennan (Fine Gael)
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I will begin by stating my abhorrence at what Mr. Keegan stated in the last paragraph in his letter to the committee. As a member of the GAA for many years, and one of the few members of this committee who has had the thrill of playing in Croke Park several times, fadó, fadó, I have had no conflict of interest whatsoever. I accept Mr. Keegan’s withdrawal and apology.

Why does Mr. Keegan believe there was no need for a pre-consultation process? How early were the promoters aware that the granting of a licence for the five concerts was not on the agenda? Selling 400,000 tickets was a clear indication that there would need to be five concerts. If the promoters were aware that three was the maximum number of concert licences to be granted, why did they go ahead and sell 240,000 extra tickets?

Mr. Keegan indicated there were 384 objections to the concerts by residents. Eleven of these indicated their submissions were not made by them. I find it hard to believe that 384 people objected, whether individually or on behalf of others. I know of a case where a person objected to a certain development in a certain county. Twelve months later, his name was used for an objection and the fee for it was paid on his behalf. Is there a fee for objections made to Dublin City Council? I take exception to anyone telling a local authority what they will or will not accept. I accept Mr. Keegan does not have the authority to verify the objectors.

This has done our reputation as a welcoming nation major damage. While I did not see it referred to on CNN, this fiasco has been highly damaging to our tourism reputation. It is a major loss to the economy of our capital city. Mr. Keegan has a role as city manager in promoting tourism and, in fairness, he is doing that. The Government is encouraging international events to take place in this country such as American football games, rugby world cup matches and so on. This decision is a major tourism and economic loss to our capital city and our country.