EXCITEMENT IS BUILDING among fans as the first of Ed Sheeran’s three sold-out Pairc Uí Chaoimh shows is set to take place tonight.

Doubt was cast over whether the concerts were going ahead earlier today after Irish online publication Benchwarmers.ie published an article on its website with the headline “BREAKING: All Ed Sheeran Irish tour dates have been cancelled.”

When users clicked onto the article on theBenchwarmers’ website, they were greeted with the text “Just kidding. Enjoy the show”.

A spokesperson for event organisers Aiken Promotions confirmed to TheJournal.ie that there is no truth in any report that Ed Sheeran has called off his Irish gigs.

“The Ed Sheeran Irish Tour 2018 is going ahead as planned, kicking off in Cork tonight,” the spokesperson said.
Benchwarmers.ie shared the article to its Facebook page. However, it has since been deleted.

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Sheeran is set to play three sold-out shows in Pairc Uí Chaoimh tonight, tomorrow night and Sunday night.

The publication’s Twitter account has been suspended. It has not been confirmed whether this is a direct result of the Ed Sheeran article.

The image that appears when a user tries to view Benchwarmers Twitter account. Twitter Twitter

Concert preparations

Ed Sheeran has broken records with his Irish tour, and over 300,000 tickets were sold on the first day of sale, making it the biggest ever number of tickets sold by an artist in Ireland in one day, according to Aiken Promotions.

As more than 120,000 fans are set to arrive at the venue over the coming days for the concerts, traffic restrictions have been implemented across the city.

No parking will be allowed around the stadium, and gardaí are urging people to use public transport or walk from the city centre if possible.

“Please respect local residents,” gardaí said.

For those who plan to drive to the venue, car parks are located in the following areas:

• Q-Park Carroll’s Quay – Open 24 hours
• Q-Park City Hall – Open 24 hours
• Q-Park Grand Parade – Open 24 hours
• Q-Park St Finbarr’s – Open 24 hours
• Paul Street Car Park – Until midnight
• North Main Street – Open until 1am
• Paul Street – Open until 1am

Bus Éireann will operate a shuttle service from Lapps Quay to the venue. The service will run from 3pm to 8pm on a five-minute frequency today, tomorrow and Sunday.

Another Bus Éireann shuttle bus service will operate from Kent Rail Station from 3pm to 8pm on a 20-minute frequency.

Tánaiste and Cork TD Simon Coveney is also gearing up for the gigs, and he is certainly getting into the spirit of things (He’s taking his daughters to the concert tomorrow night).

Tánaiste Simon Coveney gearing up for the arrival of Ed Sheeran in Cork tonight. Christina Finn Christina Finn

Coveney told TheJournal.ie that the concerts will mean big business for the Cork economy, adding that it was great to see the stadium, which has gone under an extensive refurbishment, being used to hold the gigs.

Meanwhile, Cork’s RedFM has joined in on the celebrations for the concerts and has decided to drop the letter R for the weekend to become edFM.

“After 8am this morning, breakfast with Ray & Jay hit the button on our new name with cars seeing edFM instead of RedFM on their dashboard. On top of this, we have changed our name on-air, on social branding and we have even changed our branded vehicles to edFM,” a spokesperson for the radio station said.

Doors for the venue will open at 5pm each day. Aiken Promotions has said early queuing will not be permitted in the streets around the venue.
Benchwarmers.ie has been contacted for comment.