Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Close
11 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic.
Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy
here
before taking part.
Keegan is a nightmare, has his own agenda, tried to leave a legacy in Dun Laoighre / Rathdown in the shape of a unwanted new library building, he battered the local economy there, was a big party when he left for DCC. He is also trying to ruin ambulance service in Dublin, to save a few quid instead of life’s
Lets just hope that Dublin City Council have no hand, act or part to play in Irelands proposed bid to stage the rugby world in 2023…they’d make a complete balls of it and mess it up for everyone.
Exactly, he has an agenda. I’m not quite sure how the anti-country music agenda ties in with his cycling agenda, but it’s all an agenda.
Who does he think he is, building libraries (who uses them??), and enforcing the planning law. Doesn’t he know that laws are flexible things, to be bent as the crowd/money wants.
Yes. It is scandalous that a civic figure should not bend to pressure. Timmy Dooley is right. FF may have been put out of office but that doesn’t mean that their modus operandi has to be jettisoned too.
It looks like Keegan is going to be the scapegoat for this when he was only doing his job, and doing it correctly. Dodgy dealings have become the norm in Ireland today and refusal to conduct business in that way, as Keegan did, can result in you losing your job. It’s ironic when you think of the people who were taking backhanders being allowed to walk away with huge pay offs.
Patrick st in dun laoighre is like a ghost town with his carefull planing 50% of the shops are closed down but we have nice bollards cycle lanes but no room for parking
They didn’t bottle it….they gave permission for 3….Brookes thought he was bigger when he demanded 5….promoter pushed ahead and sold for 5 because he thought he was bigger too….in the end the council was the biggest because they have the power
He didn’t demand 5. He was offered 5 by Aiken and he wanted to stick to that. DCC said they were supportive if it but the DCC had made up their mind that it was 3 instead of 5 in Feb. DCC said nothing for 6 months and have admitted in their first hearing that they didn’t think it would matter if they said it then or 6 months later. DCC are a bunch of clowns. You should pay more attention to what has actually happened.
Down in Clare, when the hospital was been down sized and Shannon was losing its London flight , there was no sign or word from Dooley at all, he just disappeared. Now, he is awful worried about poor Mr Brookes in Dublin !
If it’s true he has family living in the area. The decision not to grant the license is a blatant conflict of interest. My guess is that Aiken didn’t throw enough of a backhander his way.
May I enquire as to why these alleged “public representatives” are “grilling” the City Manager for a second time? I can think of a few folk who might benefit from a so called grilling, and they ain’t him. These people are transparent attention seekers and should be truly ashamed of themselves. With what is going on in the world, and this country, at the moment THIS is what they concern themselves with. KICK THEM OUT.
Notice that the journal and other publications now tend to use the expression “grilling” for those appearing in front of oireachtas committees. That use of language suggests a degree of guilt or wrongdoing and plays into the direction such committees have taken of late. Once again I breathe a sigh of relief that the referendum last year was voted down as I have doubt that those invited to appear will adopt a more defensive approach to the political grandstanding thereby rendering redundant the potential efficacy of the committees.
Probably because like all TD’s they pander to the will of the mighty GAA… Sure didn’t they decide to push ahead with all this crap knowing full well that there would be objections from residents. Objections that the GAA assumed DCC would ignore…
Came back to bite McKEnna and Co squarely in the backside… Don’t see O’Mahony or Dimmy Tooley demanding those sleeveen FCUK’s back in…!!! God forbid they’d upset them for fear of not being able to hit them up for a few tickets to crap like in Croker
And they can’t ‘demand’ McKenna or Aiken in at all. They are private citizens who accepted an invitation.
Mr. Keegan, being paid from the public purse is someone who can be required to attend the committee and on both occasions he obfuscated before attending. In my opinion that says it all about his attitude towards those who pay his wages and those elected to represent them.
every concert that is advertised in advance of actually taking place alwys includes the proviso of securing a licence…These concerts were not any different..So the process is a irish joke as you cannot gauge the market demands for tickets until they go on sale and you cannot look for a licence for more than one concert until the demand of fans is determined by the number of tickets sold.joke absolute joke and should not be surprised that it is public sector unelected city managers that set the rules
I wonder is he a very mean person? Cyclists generally are mean. Wouldn’t spend a cent on bus fare or petrol. He may even delight in the fact that taxes from petrol are paying his huge wage and pension. Does he get milage? I bet he claims the maximum. It is certainly mean spirited to cause so many people such heartache but a mean person wouldn’t mind. He might even be a right wing catholic who thinks people should suffer and not have too much pleasure.
All cyclists are mean,really,i cycle to keep fit and because i enjoy it so much,saving money is not a priority for me,in fact i travel a lot and quite enjoy spending lots of it,and comparing them to the Dublin city manager is just plain stupid.
Mr Keegan needs to cycle off and end his career in some primitive, backward kingdom that needs a city manager, who is a killjoy with little capacity for either lateral or creative thinking and the faster that he pedals in that direction, without looking over his shoulder, the better.
He granted 3 concerts above what was planned for in that year exposing himself and DCC to legal problems to other applications for planning in the future that may have been turned down. Brooks et al threw their rattles out of their prams. No concerts, no money into the economy and the countries over reaction makes us look like idiots.
When planning regulations weren’t followed tribunals resulted. Now when we have good honest public officials doing their jobs and following the law of the land people don’t like that !! Bizarre. Either we follow the rules or we don’t we can’t pick and choose that just wouldn’t work and would leave it open to corruption once again. The performer and promoter thought they could ride roughshod over the regulations and got the shock of their lives when the regulations were upheld. A compromise was offered remember and that compromise was rejected.
The problem is Mr. Keegan did not follow regulations. If he had done he would have rejected all five concerts wen the application was made in early April as the three concerts that are apparently all that are allowed per year had already been allowed.
Alan the planning attached to Croke Park allows for 3 without a licence any more than that a license has to be applied for, the GAA, Aiken and Brooks should have been cognisant of resident opposition and their right to object.Thats what happened they objected 5 concerts sold DCC weighed up the rights of residents and the need for the gigs 3 granted a licence. Brooks threw a hissy fit now no concerts.
once again…. As mike said there were no laws broken in the granting of licences. Unlike what mike said Aiken and the GAA had received reasonable assurances from DCC that the licences would be granted, as all promoters must do because of the cockamamie way we insist on doing concert licencing. DCC then went back on their word and only grand 3 at the behest of a vast minority of objectors and one pillock who lives in castleknock. They bowed to a minority of vested interests (including keegans own) and call it a victory for democracy. Someone tell me what more they GAA or Aiken could have done, there was demand for 5, no laws preventing 5, they asked for 5 licences were told they’d get them, they sold tickets on that basis. What could they have done differently?
He’s splitting hairs, he admits telling them he would support 5 concerts, how is that not effectively an assurance. If they were required to sign some form of assurance form then that would be them basically granting the licence there and then.
Alan O’Connor….keegan serves the law….the law serves the people….if people exercise their right to access the law (by objection) then Keegan is duty bound to act upon the law….seems to me he did his best to compromise but he hit against a stonewall
Which residents are these mike ?? The real ones that objected or the 100 or so fake ones ????????? . Plus in my opinion Garth Brooks is damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t . If he had played any 3 nights the people on the other 2 nights would have been disappointed so he is right , how was he expected to pick and choose who to disappoint . I for one was so looking forward to the concert on the Friday but would have felt guilty for the people missing it and the fun was taken out of it for me personally .
There’s NO law that says he is duty bound to act. Merely to take into account. Now what sane person would upend the plans of 160000 people because less than one tenth of one per cent of people living in the affected area objected (and it’s accepted that at least some of these objections are fake.
Did anyone notice how many times Owen Keegan touched his nose, ear or head during his presentation? If you check out characteristics of “nonverbal behaviour on most sources, you will see something similar to the following from http://www.blifaloo.com/info/lies.php
Signs of Deception:Body Language of Lies:
• Physical expression will be limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements. Hand, arm and leg movement are toward their own body the liar takes up less space.
• A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact.
• Hands touching their face, throat & mouth. Touching or scratching the nose or behind their ear. Not likely to touch his chest/heart with an open hand.
I counted 19 touches during his presentation.
Interesting!!!
Owen Keegan appears to have given contradictory evidence over the last few days. His version of events is becoming more shaky and dubious as the inquiries continue.
I watched the majority of this meeting today as DCC would be attending. The concensus of the majority in attendance was that this fiasco could have been avoided. DCC in February were aware but hadn’t agreed to 5 only 3 as that is the agreement in their procedures.
I do not know why they didn’t get it all resolved in February when the tickets were sold and not an the eleventh hour when the 400k had made the necessary travel & accomodation arrangements.
There was a TD in attendance that I didnot see his name. He is from Tipperary South. The chairman kept interupting him. The TD has a document from 1993 when there was a planning fiasco by DCC and our friend Owen that cost the city €1M.
We will be talking about this for the next 20 years but will the country’s international reputation be repaired by then?
The Garda are investigating the fraudulent signatures.Will we see the outcome of this. I think not.
I hope that the planning, license & procedures are reviewed and altered for the future.
Well it has to be said that Timmy Dooley is 100% correct here, I don’t know what party he’s with , what kind of nonsense is it to say I said it would be ok but I didn’t give any assurance ?
How out of touch are our TD’s, “You weren’t talking about Metallica here. It wasn’t going to be a massive rave.It could have been fairly assumed that it wasn’t going to be a drunken bash for five nights” –
(1) Metallica don’t play the type of music you would hear at a rave
(2) Most people are not drunk at a rave
(3) I’ve a very funny feeling, if the concerts went ahead, it would have been a very drunken bash.
I think one of the lessons from this whole fiasco is that any notions we had of representative government and citizens having any sort of say in how their city and country operates are out the window. Each of the major political parties seemingly supported the concerts, the elected councillors of Dublin City Council supported the concerts, it seems that the majority of Croke Park residents either supported the concerts or were reluctantly willing to endure them, and all of these opinions could be negated by one unelected man whose name most of us had probably never heard of before.
Play play to Keegan. We take powers away from politicians because based on past experience, they can’t be trusted. Now the politicians want to dump on the Council Official that has been entrusted with that power. I am glad that Keegan had the integrity to stand-up to the vested interests that wanted to railroad these concerts through with little regard to local residents.
No, Joe. You have drawn the short straw, and that is your problem. I have no wish at all to ‘join you in your journey’, and I resent efforts being made to force me so to do.
The only looser here is Ireland an international laughing stock! He certainly left a legacy alright! Sure we really didn’t need any of the money that would have been made from the gigs, we’ve enough to go around, perfect balanced economy! No debts, everyone’s rich, isn’t that right ted
With hundreds of family members mourning their loss from the plane crash in Ukraine and the mounting death toll in Gaza, millions going without food, is the cancellation of a concert really that important!
So you won’t get to go to the concert, I think we should all start to get our priorities right here folks.
Its all been legal mess from start to finish.
Even if Keegan had followed correct procedures, he knew that at this late stage the consequences for thousands of people around the world were unacceptable. He
was given a chance to put things right in light of policefinding of fraudulent
signatures by not contesting. He woud have maintained his respect for considering the city businesses interests and people who were about to lose a lot of hard earned income from non refundable expenses. His response was that he wouldnt do that because he thought he would have to resign and lose his job. His priorities were obviously not for the people he is supposed to represent..I hope he gets sacked for that alone!!
Apple's Irish subsidiary incurs $25 billion corporation tax charge as pre-tax profits hit $76 billion
11 mins ago
957
1
evening fix
Here's What Happened Today: Friday
34 mins ago
810
arctic reception
JD Vance says US take over of Greenland ‘makes sense’ during scaled back visit
Updated
1 hr ago
32.2k
98
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 160 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 110 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 142 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 112 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 38 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 34 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 133 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 59 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 99 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 88 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say