Concert problems need to be thoroughly examined

Oasis frontman Noel Gallagher, in his blog at the weekend, remarked that, as spectacles go, Slane Castle takes some beating. Indeed, it does. As a study in human behaviour, however, last Saturday"s event would also take some beating. From early afternoon on the day of this year"s rock concert, pubs and off-licences throughout County Meath and beyond were doing a roaring trade with concert-goers laden down with 'slabs" of beer and cider streaming northwards from Navan towards the picturesque Boyne Valley village that one day each year finds itself the centre of attention as some of the biggest music acts in the world come to play there. The result of this level of alcohol consumption so early in the day and the fact that patrons are not permitted to bring drink into the concert venue and have to consume it all outside before they get it meant that many thousands of young people, in particular, were 'full to the gills" long before any of the main acts on Saturday took to the stage. What was witnessed at Slane last weekend was an orgy of drunkenness on a scale hitherto unseen in almost three decades of concerts at the castle. That is not to say there was menace in the air - far from it, it was all very good-natured, but it begs the question: why the need for so many people to get so extraordinarily inebriated when attending a music event? The organisers, of course, cannot be blamed for the state people get themselves into at this or any other outdoor event. However, more worrying has been the criticism of the organisation of this year"s concert, which did not run as smoothly as in previous years, as anyone who listened to RTE"s 'Liveline" would have heard on Monday. There were major problems with bus transport returning fans home - particularly to Dublin - after the concert, with some revellers complaining that they did not get to their homes until 4am or 5am. There were reports of people sleeping in ditches, fans having to walk 10km before managing to hail a lift, young people crying, scared and lost in the dark in the middle of nowhere without any way to get home. Of even more concern were reports of serious crushes developing at the entrances to the concert site and the allegations of some people being let in without their tickets being checked. This has led to speculation that there were more than 80,000 people present, even though 80,000 is the maximum number of fans permitted to attend under the conditions of the Slane concert licence. Promoters MCD have resolutely maintained that the attendance was 80,000. However, there were clearly problems with the arrival of so many fans at the one time. The lessons of tragedies like Hillsborough behove everyone involved in major event management attracting tens of thousands of people to ensure the lessons learned from it are put into effect. As in the aftermath of any Slane concert, a full debriefing takes place in the week afterwards. This year, MCD, the Gardai, Slane Castle owner Henry Mountcharles, the emergency services and Meath County Council, as the licensing authority, will need to look closely at and identify where there were failings this year, and in particular, where there were fears for public safety, to ensure there is no repeat in future years. Apart from the transport chaos, serious attention needs to be paid to how people are corralled at the entrances and whether more than 80,000 somehow managed to get into the concert site. It was certainly apparent from mid-afternoon onwards that there was an unusually large crowd present in the arena at that time, with many thousands more still outside waiting to get in. There can be no doubt that Slane, on its day, is a majestic setting for any rock concert, and this year was no exception. The natural amphitheatre which sweeps down to the Boyne, the forest-clad hills which surround it and the castle overlooking the arena make it one of the premier global concert venues that can rank alongside fabled venues like the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado and Madison Square Garden in New York. A summer without Slane would be like strawberries without cream. This year, however, a number of issues have arisen which need to be dealt with if Slane is to remain the jewel in the crown of Irish summer festivals - in particular the crowd control and public transport issues. Henry Mountcharles is nothing if not a pragmatist and he will be anxious to take on board the complaints that have been raised in order to run trouble-free concerts in the future and to retain the support of the local community which he regards as crucial to being able to continue this great Slane tradition in the years ahead.