Fans Deserve More For Money
What went wrong at Slane on Saturday night and Sunday morning? Until they finally admitted problems late last night, the organisers of the Oasis concert, as well as the Garda Siochana and Dublin Bus, said nothing. According to the loud protests from people who attended, a great deal.
Eyewitnesses tell us that, for many, pleasure turned to misery at an early stage. People had to force a passage through the walkway to the arena where they viewed the event. They found crowd control lax. There were too few bars and too few toilets, but too many people carrying bottles. Fist fights broke out.
But the most distressing part came late, when the fans tried to go home. Dublin Bus claims that it put 300 vehicles on the route and that everybody got away by 2am. This is strongly disputed by passengers who say that they encountered immense difficulty and delay.
Some describe arriving back as late as 5am. A few walked to neighbouring towns and somehow found taxis. There are stories of stragglers sitting by the roadside or even sleeping in ditches. And there are reports of disgraceful behaviour, like bus passengers throwing bottles on to the roofs of passing cars.
In view of Slane Castle's long experience of running rock concerts -- experience presumably shared by the Garda Siochana, private security and transport operators -- this is quite extraordinary. It also calls into question the value for money offered. Fans paid €80 admission and bus fares of €20. For this, they were entitled to comfort as well as music.
Source: www.independent.ie
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From www.independent.ie
Lord Henry admits to 'serious problems' with Slane gig
Organisers promise review to tackle chaos at Oasis show
The organisers of the controversial Oasis concert at Slane have admitted there were problems and say they will work to prevent a repeat at future gigs at the famous venue.
The owner of Slane Castle also acknowledged yesterday there were "serious problems" at Saturday's event.
As concert-goers claimed they feared for their safety at the 80,000-capacity venue, Lord Henry Mountcharles pledged to address the issues raised.
Promoter MCD has also asked anyone with complaints to get in touch directly by email at contact@mcd.ie.
All the problems highlighted by fans will be looked at -- including transport, queues for bars, and access to the venue -- at a debriefing meeting to be held in the coming weeks.
MCD, Lord Mountcharles, Dublin Bus, Bus Eireann, and the gardai will attend the meeting; but it is understood that there will be no fans' representatives present.
Their stories continued to emerge yesterday with some telling how they waited in ditches in the cold to get home, while others told how they witnessed serious assaults and drug busts in the VIP area.
Others experienced overcrowding and some crushing, while one woman fan was kicked in the face.
MCD maintained that attendance and capacity at the concert was 80,000, amid claims that more had gained entry without having their tickets checked. They said ticket scanning checks were suspended for about 30 minutes shortly after 6.35pm at one entrance to ease queues and a build-up of people through the forest laneway.
"However, at the same time the gate behind them at the bridge entrance was closed thus ensuring that no one could enter the system knowing that ticket scanning had been temporarily suspended."
Serious
"All the issues raised above will be immediately addressed at the post-event debrief meeting and changes will be implemented as required for future Slane concerts," MCD said.
Lord Mountcharles said there were "serious problems" with transport which "have to be looked into".
He admitted that there were problems at the Dublin entrance and said a comprehensive review would be carried out by the organisers and the gardai. He also acknowledged on RTE's 'Liveline' that he was aware of incidents taking place in the VIP area -- where celebrities mingled with customers who paid premium prices -- which was situated in front of the castle. However, he declined to comment any further when contacted by the Irish Independent last night.
Dublin Bus continued to come in for flak from disgruntled customers, with complaints of six-hour bus journeys. After saying on Sunday that they had everyone out of Slane by 2am, Dublin Bus said yesterday that buses "were unfortunately delayed en route to the city due to traffic volumes".
Terry Fahy from East Wall said he saw a teenager fall in between buses while having a fit -- and no one came to his aid.
He also said that people were "ushered like cattle" around the venue. "When we left the concert we headed out on a country road and headed for two miles," he said. "We passed about 50 buses and a crowd of us asked what the story was. We were told to sit in a ditch and there were more buses from Navan on the way.
"We had to sit in the ditch at the side of the road in the freezing cold. In between two buses we saw a young lad fall, crack his head and have a fit."
Mr Fahy said that the only people who helped were an off-duty nurse and the teenager's friends.
Another man, who did not wish to be named, paid tribute to the gardai who helped break up a fight and seized drugs in the VIP area.
The man, who described the concert as "pretty brutal", said he saw a punter being brought away with his "face burst open".
However, Noel Gallagher from Oasis said on his blog that he had had a "great night".
"As spectacles go (and I don't mean the ones you wear) Slane Castle takes some beating," he said.
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