Toaiseach intervenes in Brooks debacle.

Happyman42

Interested in views on this, has Enda set a massive precedent here?

I think it is a fairly sinister development.

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

raymon

Dont fall for the gombeen Fianna Fail trap that Michael Martin and Timmy Dooley have set.

ITS A TRAP, ENDA !

gandalf

This is turning into one really bad joke.

I feel like I have time warped back to the 1980's with all these politicians trying to influence a planning decision. I truly thought we had got over this type of behaviour.

We should replace Keegan with George Redmond to complete this farce. Enda and his advisor's should hang their heads in shame there are far more pressing issues for them to be dealing with and the reputational damage from political interference in the planning process is far worse than pissing off a washed up over the hill Country and Western singer and his legions of deluded fans.

zl1whqvjs75cdy

Now the country is damaging it's international reputation. Could you see Merkel intervening if garth refused some dates in Berlin. It's a total farce.

Frank Lee Midere

donkeyoaty0099 wrote: »

Now the country is damaging it's international reputation. Could you see Merkel intervening if garth refused some dates in Berlin. It's a total farce.

Yeah. Not the government's business.

LynnGrace

gandalf wrote: »

This is turning into one really bad joke.

I feel like I have time warped back to the 1980's with all these politicians trying to influence a planning decision. I truly thought we had got over this type of behaviour.

We should replace Keegan with George Redmond to complete this farce. Enda and his advisors should hang their heads in shame there are far more pressing issues for them to be dealing with and the reputational damage from political interference in the planning process is far worse than pissing off a washed up over the hill Country and Western singerand his legions of deluded fans.

I want to thank this post a million times.

Penn

Next time something actually important comes up and he doesn't intervene, he is going to be crucified.

And rightfully so.

Happyman42

I'm trying to figure out if it is a face saving intervention (ah well I tried) or a genuine effort to change the DCC decision.
Pathetic reversion to type really.

whiskeyman

I wonder if there's more to this.
The latest seems that the concerts could go ahead.
Enda getting involved and if the gigs go ahead, that's nearly 400k happy punters.
Could be a PR coup if he pulls it off.

Conmaicne Mara

What has Edna said or done?

Rightwing

He has no choice but to intervene.

The man is up against an incredibly dense electorate.

Nodin

Happyman42 wrote: »

Interested in views on this, has Enda set a massive precedent here?

I think it is a fairly sinister development.

Well, one could say that. One could say it's highly inappropriate. One can definitely say that its a bit bloody late now.

Manach

Curious that this has actually not been granted some form of emergency hearing at least at a High Court level, given the Judiciaries oversight over the other two branches of the state.

raymon

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

What has Edna said or done?

Nothing really yet. However he needs to snap out of it and leave interfering in planning affairs , court cases and the like to Fianna Fail.

28064212

What exactly has Kenny done? Only mention of any "intervention":

Mr Kenny is said to have ruled out emergency legislation when questioned at a regular meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party.

While a source close to the Taoiseach said there was no question of interference in the city council’s planning decision, he left open the prospect of last-ditch Government manoeuvres to help save the concerts.

"A source" :rolleyes: And who's the 'he' in "he left open the prospect"? Kenny? The source? The reporter/editor?

ThisRegard

Penn wrote: »

Next time something actually important comes up and he doesn't intervene, he is going to be crucified.

And rightfully so.

He's walking himself right into that pitfall. I can't believe he actually got involved.

raymon wrote: »

Nothing really yet. However he needs to snap out of it and leave interfering in planning affairs , court cases and the like to Fianna Fail.

Hasn't he set up a meeting with the concerned parties? Interference enough given he's basically signalling that he doesn't accept the city managers decision as being final.

Cookie_Monster

typical populist nonsense from Kenny, right on form

Conmaicne Mara

Kenny would be silly to get involved in this, so I hope he does.

Nodin

28064212 wrote: »

What exactly has Kenny done? Only mention of any "intervention":


"A source" :rolleyes: And who's the 'he' in "he left open the prospect"? Kenny? The source? The reporter/editor?

This any better?

"Dublin's Lord Mayor Christy Burke and the Chief Executive of Dublin City Council Owen Keegan are to meet tomorrow, to see if the five Garth Brooks concerts can still be staged at Croke Park.
The meeting was requested by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who asked the Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Commission Kieran Mulvey to see if the concerts could be salvaged.
A spokesman for Mr Kenny said that if there was an opportunity to facilitate a positive outcome, the Government would certainly consider it."
http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0709/629475-garth-brooks/

nice_guy80

This is going to be popcorn

allthedoyles

Enda has said that the loss to Dublin economy is quarter billion euro.- thats €250,000,000

Is this not an emergency of National importance .?

Rightwing

Conmaicne Mara wrote: »

Kenny would be silly to get involved in this, so I hope he does.

Martin scored huge points over him today. Welcone to politics in Ireland.

We have too give Brooks credit, he knows he is dealing with idiots

raymon

ThisRegard wrote: »

He's walking himself right into that pitfall. I can't believe he actually got involved.



Hasn't he set up a meeting with the concerned parties? Interference enough given he's basically signalling that he doesn't accept the city managers decision as being final.

I agree . This is bad

gandalf

allthedoyles wrote: »

Enda has said that the loss to Dublin economy is quarter billion euro.- thats €250,000,000

Is this not an emergency of National importance .?

Complete and utter fabrication. I have seen figures ranging from €15 to €50 million being mentioned.

kippy

Amazing how the law can be bent/manipulated etc for situations such as this but not for the many many cases bent/manipulated laws would better suffice.
(I think here of the issues around contractual golden handshakes, massive pensions after massive poor performance, bankers and the laws surrounding insider trading, dodgy real estate deals, catholic church issues etc etc etc)

The best thing Enda can do now is to announce a new licensing methods for these type of gig, the method of course being that the license(s) have to be granted before the tickets go on sale.
Anything else is much more damaging to our reputation than what has already gone on.

Happyman42

Imagine the people of eg. Priory Hall looking at this. How long before he got of his proverbial to help them
He is a joker of a leader, and the joke is on all those conned into thinking he and Fine Gael where different.

pavb2

Maybe a smart move an Awful lot of voters got tickets for those concerts

Conmaicne Mara

pavb2 wrote: »

Maybe a smart move an Awful lot of voters got tickets for those concerts

A lotta voters bought Eircom shares too.

ThisRegard

allthedoyles wrote: »

Enda has said that the loss to Dublin economy is quarter billion euro.- thats €250,000,000

Is this not an emergency of National importance .?

No, it's just plain wrong.

Atlantic Dawn

Thought there was a Dail Commmmittteeee meeting to discuss it on Friday for the craic to make it look like there was something being done about nothing they could legally have any impact on whatsoever?

Good loser

Happyman42 wrote: »

Imagine the people of eg. Priory Hall looking at this. How long before he got of his proverbial to help them
He is a joker of a leader, and the joke is on all those conned into thinking he and Fine Gael where different.

Getting involved in Priory Hall is going to cost us taxpayers plenty money.

Getting involved here will cost nothing - VAT, PRSI, PAYE etc will add millions to Govt revenue.

Let the concerts roll.

kippy

allthedoyles wrote: »

Enda has said that the loss to Dublin economy is quarter billion euro.- thats €250,000,000

Is this not an emergency of National importance .?

No. Especially when you consider the figures are totally wrong, the circumstance is not life threatening and many many cases of actual emergencies have been let go over the past number of years.

Atlantic Dawn

Happyman42 wrote: »

Imagine the people of eg. Priory Hall looking at this. How long before he got of his proverbial to help them
He is a joker of a leader, and the joke is on all those conned into thinking he and Fine Gael where different.

Their voting power was too small for the government to care about :mad:.

kippy

Good loser wrote: »

Getting involved in Priory Hall is going to cost us taxpayers plenty money.

Getting involved here will cost nothing - VAT, PRSI, PAYE etc will add millions to Govt revenue.

Let the concerts roll.

Look if the money is that big an issue, give Garth a grant to cover his production costs to come here later in the year to fill the phoenix park or similiar a few times, once the license for the gigs have been granted. Lets be honest, even with the reputational damage done over this cancellation, the same 400K + people will jump on the chance to buy tickets again once all has been granted.
But overturning the law and putting pressure on those that make decisions is wrong. Simple as.

BorneTobyWilde

Enda intervenes, Garth really does have friends in low places.

Maudi

LynnGrace wrote: »

I want to thank this post a million times.

Shetp away kennocchio. .everything you touch ..ye fuq up bay.

comongethappy

Rightwing wrote: »

He has no choice but to intervene.

The man is up against an incredibly dense electorate.

Paddy loves his bread & circuses.

All else matters not.

wrightguy

Such a bewildering decision from Enda Kenny... If he doesn't succeed in this intervention then this whole debacle will look like even more of a joke. "The most powerful man in Ireland steps in to save an already dead concert... and fails" - That will make a lovely news headline.

I don't know if it will improve our national image if he gets the concerts back but it certainly won't help his if he doesn't.

I doubt Brooks' fans care either way - they just want to hear and see GB on Irish soil.

gozunda

wrightguy wrote: »

Such a bewildering decision from Enda Kenny... If he doesn't succeed in this intervention then this whole debacle will look like even more of a joke. "The most powerful man in Ireland steps in to save an already dead concert... and fails" - That will make a lovely news headline.

I don't know if it will improve our national image if he gets the concerts back but it certainly won't help his if he doesn't.

I doubt Brooks' fans care either way - they just want to hear and see GB on Irish soil.

Is he looking for free tickets by any chance?

wrightguy

gozunda wrote: »

Is he looking for free tickets by any chance?

Haha well said! I say he's looking for a vote more than anything!

How badly he needs one, only tomorrow will tell. In the meantime, I wouldn't get rid of that ticket just yet

evolving_doors

Nodin wrote: »

This any better?

"Dublin's Lord Mayor Christy Burke and the Chief Executive of Dublin City Council Owen Keegan are to meet tomorrow, to see if the five Garth Brooks concerts can still be staged at Croke Park.
The meeting was requested by Taoiseach Enda Kenny, who asked the Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Commission Kieran Mulvey to see if the concerts could be salvaged.
A spokesman for Mr Kenny said that if there was an opportunity to facilitate a positive outcome, the Government would certainly consider it."
http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0709/629475-garth-brooks/

I bet theyll forget to invite the residents representative to the meeting

Xterminator

why is there no appeal mechanism in place for the planning process? We wouldnt need Enda to intervene if the system had appropriate checks and balances.

heartseeker

This is a complete farce.Yet another example of the rich,powerful and influential trying to put maximum pressure and guilt on a Dublin City Council Manager for merely making a decision that he deemed fair and agreeable.This release of an email by Garth brooks and now the taoiseach wading in is clear example of media bias and government not knowing its place.How Enda Kenny can justify this after all the planning corruption cases shows a wilful ignorance of the law and lack of respect for fellow civil servants.Owen Keegan should be commended for not bowing to political and media pressure here and bullied into uturning from an initial fair proposal.What a moron country we live in when the head of state chooses something like this to excert his influence.Forget medical card debacle, homeless crisis, priory hall ,jobbridge scandal this is a political hotbed for Kenny.Absolute joke!

Tabnabs

Armelodie wrote: »

I bet theyll forget to invite the residents representative to the meeting

He was on Morning Ireland earlier and himself and the presenter all but agreed that any local opposition was a fraud and was being investigated by the Gards.

The locals, their rights and the planning laws surrounding this are being steam-rolled in the name of the almighty dollar.

Godge

Happyman42 wrote: »

Interested in views on this, has Enda set a massive precedent here?

I think it is a fairly sinister development.

Happyman42 wrote: »

I'm trying to figure out if it is a face saving intervention (ah well I tried) or a genuine effort to change the DCC decision.
Pathetic reversion to type really.

Are you trying to stimulate a serious debate or just having a go at Kenny?

The real strange and funny one was Sinn Fein's attempt to pass emergency legislation to let the concert go ahead. Garth Brooks concerts up there with cutting the pay of public servants!!!

On a serious note, there is a real issue here.

Croke Park is de facto the national stadium. A stadium for all the people in the country. Should a few people be allowed just stop events taking place there.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/resident-was-paid-15000-to-help-his-court-case-30420588.html

When you read this article, you wonder which sinister force North and South put up the money for the challenge?

There is room when the dust dies down on this for a good debate on the role NIMBYism plays in Irish politics and the willingness of local politicians especially to jump on the bandwagon of the latest loud-shouting group.

Happyman42

Godge wrote: »

Should a few people be allowed just stop events taking place there.

Yes, if the the event does not meet licencing requirements. Enda has undermined the entire planning process I'm afraid.

Tabnabs

Taoiseach Enda Kenny should be prepared to ring, or take a call from, singer Garth Brooks in order to resolve the impasse over the five cancelled Croke Park concerts, Minister for Trade Joe Costello has said.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/calls-for-taoiseach-to-be-prepared-to-ring-garth-brooks-1.1861595

Homelessness at an all time high, a possible third austerity budget with €2b in cuts just over the horizon, a health service in disarray, massive unemployment and emigration, a devastated and still creaking banking system, family homes being foreclosed upon and here we have a government minister seeking the Taoiseach to get down on his knees and, by whatever means necessary, get the almighty Garth Brooks to come to Ireland?

This is a dark day for politics in Ireland.

comongethappy

Tabnabs wrote: »

This is a dark day for politics in Ireland.

And what does it say for the office of Taoiseach.

You would think that whoever holds the office. Such tabloid triviality would be beneath him/her.

Evidently not.

Godge

Happyman42 wrote: »

Yes, if the the event does not meet licencing requirements. Enda has undermined the entire planning process I'm afraid.

That is the small picture question.

The big picture question is to what extent are our planning processes for large infrastructural projects held up unduly or frustrated by small (and small-minded) objections. In this case the big picture question is whether our national stadium should be able to host large-scale national concerts in the way that Wembley can for example. We have the same problem with motorways, public transport infrastructure and the children's hospital.

Tabnabs wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/calls-for-taoiseach-to-be-prepared-to-ring-garth-brooks-1.1861595

Homelessness at an all time high, a possible third austerity budget with €2b in cuts just over the horizon, a health service in disarray, massive unemployment and emigration, a devastated and still creaking banking system, family homes being foreclosed upon and here we have a government minister seeking the Taoiseach to get down on his knees and, by whatever means necessary, get the almighty Garth Brooks to come to Ireland?

This is a dark day for politics in Ireland.

It is more that a third austerity budget (7th by my reckoning).

Family homes being foreclosed on is not a large-scale problem in Ireland (I am not diminishing the effect on individuals). The statistics for foreclosures are small by comparison internationally considering the property collapse here.

We do not have massive emigration. Emigration of unskilled inexperienced young Irish is being balanced by immigration of skilled foreign nationals to work in IT and pharmaceuticals.

The banking system has passed all European stress tests.

Unemployment is on the way down, and will continue downwards over the next two years.

The cancellation of the concerts will result in lost tourism, lost taxation and lost revenue for Dublin which would have helped with the problems you list.

Happyman42

Godge wrote: »

That is the small picture question.

The big picture question is to what extent are our planning processes for large infrastructural projects held up unduly or frustrated by small (and small-minded) objections. In this case the big picture question is whether our national stadium should be able to host large-scale national concerts in the way that Wembley can for example. We have the same problem with motorways, public transport infrastructure and the children's hospital.

And we are going to achieve all that by allowing a politician to pressurise a planning official?

There was a critical need for this debate long before the stetsoned one applied for licences. And there will be after too.
And since when did it become a 'national stadium'?