Toaiseach intervenes in Brooks debacle.

Good loser · 10-07-2014 12:28AM

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 · 10-07-2014 12:28AM

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 · 10-07-2014 12:30AM

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 · 10-07-2014 12:31AM

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 · 10-07-2014 12:32AM

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

Maudi · 10-07-2014 12:36AM

LynnGrace wrote: »

I want to thank this post a million times.

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

comongethappy · 10-07-2014 12:48AM

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 · 10-07-2014 12:51AM

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 · 10-07-2014 12:56AM

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 · 10-07-2014 12:59AM

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 · 10-07-2014 08:25AM

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 · 10-07-2014 08:35AM

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 · 10-07-2014 09:08AM

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 · 10-07-2014 09:14AM

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 · 10-07-2014 09:26AM

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 · 10-07-2014 09:36AM

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 · 10-07-2014 09:37AM

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 · 10-07-2014 09:46AM

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 · 10-07-2014 09:50AM

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 · 10-07-2014 10:00AM

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'?

Permabear · 10-07-2014 10:03AM

This post has been deleted.

Tabnabs · 10-07-2014 10:09AM

Godge wrote: »

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

So you agree that we a firmly in the grip of austerity and the seriousness of this situation is not a trivial or inconsequential matter?

Godge wrote: »

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.

How many times have we been warned that the issue of mortgage arrears is unsustainable for the banks?
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/long-term-mortgage-arrears-a-time-bomb-271128.html

Godge wrote: »

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.

89,000 in the last recorded year and the flow continues. That's mass emigration of Irish citizens.
http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/emigration-still-hitting-hard-as-250-leave-daily-29868486.html

Godge wrote: »

The banking system has passed all European stress tests.

You have some sort of time machine then? Because the European Banking Authority won't release its results until October.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/financial-services/results-of-bank-stress-tests-is-anybody-s-guess-1.1778138

Godge wrote: »

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

There's that crystal ball again...

Godge wrote: »

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.

The rejection of Garth Brooks to play to 240,000 fans has resulted in a potential loss in revenue to the exchequer and to the businesses nationwide. That responsibility lies squarely on his shoulders.

HeidiHeidi · 10-07-2014 10:11AM

I am now officially, totally and completely mortified by all of this.

If we were a laughing stock for not granting licences in the first place, the world must have keeled over with a heart attack laughing at us now.

For the first time in living memory a planning decision was made seemingly without fear, favour, malice or ill-will - and we go into international and diplomatic meltdown over it.

I really want to just give up sometimes.

ETA - and would someone PLEASE gag Christy Burke

flutered · 10-07-2014 10:13AM

heis trying to be all things to all men,

Ash.J.Williams · 10-07-2014 10:13AM

Happyman42 wrote: »

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

If anything we've spotted a problem with the law that FF would have sat on for years. So if the GB fiasco is the straw that...well that's good.

Pappacharlie · 10-07-2014 10:15AM

Is anyone else getting "fed up to the eye teeth" with all this lark? Heard the Dublin Lord Mayor introducing the Mexican ambassador and Barack Obama into the equation this morning. Then Joe Costello on radio said that Enda Kenny would be willing to "take" or "make" a call to Garth Brooks, FFS???
I think the whole thing should be let die a peaceful death!!! And Garth Brooks should be politely told that his Irish love affair is over.

flutered · 10-07-2014 10:16AM

if is this not the most puke inducing politicial game i have come across, then it has to be a close second.

Ash.J.Williams · 10-07-2014 10:18AM

Is garth a psychopath?

zl1whqvjs75cdy · 10-07-2014 10:46AM

Joe Costello needs to shut his mouth. The leader of our country should sit around and wait on Garth to give him a bell. Who the **** is this guy? You'd swear we were trying to get the lord himself to appear to the masses with all this pandering. Nothing in the last year has stayed top of the news cycle for so long. Its a sad indictment of our country that this issue more than any other seems to light a fire under Joe public. A dark day indeed.

Reekwind · 10-07-2014 10:47AM

Ugh, there's some crushing condescension in this thread. Whatever your opinion on Brooks' music (or music in general) there's no question that this is a major (the major) cultural event of the summer. It's a major news story because it directly affects some 400,000 people.

In a small country, I'm not really surprised that something like this draws political attention. Nor am I particularly dismayed at this. Don't we want elected officials paying attention to petitioning from ordinary people? It's that a pretty key component of a democratic system?

I'm very distrustful of the idea that politicians should lock themselves away in dark rooms and only confer with men in suits about WEIGHTY ISSUES.

Toaiseach intervenes in Brooks debacle.

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