THE ASSOCIATIONS REPRESENTING Croke Park residents today received the terms of reference of the mediation process for resolving the dispute over Garth Brooks’ planned five-night stint at Croke Park this summer.
Locals are unhappy about the Garth Brooks’ gigs taking place at the Dublin stadium and are calling for the number of special events at the stadium to be reduced.
The Croke Park Residents Committee said they believe the concerts will not only breach existing clauses in Croke Park’s permission to hold such events, but also contravenes United Nations charters on human rights.
On 6 March, Croke Park suggested that the Labour Relations Commission chief Kieran Mulvey could chair talks.
Talks
Mulvey drew up the terms of reference of a mediation process that should be held upon special events being held at the stadium and these were presented to the resident and business groups today.
However, Croke Park Streets Committees Limited and the Irish Stadium Communities Association state that the proposed terms of reference are “most disappointing”.
The terms state that meetings will be held with community groups, businesses, the gardaí and other stakeholders so that the the promoters can hear “first hand” from those the events impact upon.
A report will also be prepared that will set out in detail the systems put in place to “minimise the impact” of licensed events on the surrounding communities.
The mediation process will be “undertaken with the utmost transparency and will seek to establish clearly the roles and responsibilities of those organising these special events and which will recognise the necessity of minimising inconvenience to those who live and work in the areas within and adjacent to Croke Park Stadium,” said Mulvey.
Feedback
Currently a community feedback leaflet has been circulated to 27,000 householders in the area surrounding the stadium and the GAA are organising a community forum for all residents that will be held on 29 March in Croke Park from 10am to 2pm.
Mulvey said that the mediation process, which he and a number of others are involved are “acting totally independent capacity” and that that they are under “no directions from anyone”.
He said that he hoped their would be “positive co-operation of everyone we can bring these matters to a successful conclusion…”.
The group state that the thrust of the terms of reference document “misses the point totally”.
They said that it is not about “how do we manage all these licensed events such as concerts in a way to minimise the affect on the community”, but that the “real question” is how to minimise the number of events back to the level of three that had been set down as a planning condition for the stadium by An Bord Pleanala, they claimed.
They added that the issue is a “quality of life” issue for the families who live around the stadium stating that they wish to “protect the value of our homes and our community assets”.
They concluded by stating that they expect Mulvey to deliver a binding agreement as the way forward, not just a report as mentioned in the terms of reference.
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