80,000 to descend on Slane for 30th birthday concert
More than 80,000 fans will descend on Slane this weekend to see the Kings of Leon, who are expected to put on a spectacular show in Lord Henry Mountcharles's back garden. Slane Castle will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first ever Slane concert this year with a line up which includes Thin Lizzy, who headlined the first ever concert in 1981. Slane will be sealed off to all but concert ticket-holders and local residents on Saturday, as a massive traffic management operation swings into action. The N2 south of Slane from Flemington Cross will be closed all day Saturday, except for buses ferrying fans to the concert. Final preparations are underway at the concert site, with the massive stage almost complete and facilities for concert-goers being put in place. "Plans are steaming ahead and excitement is building," said Lord Mountcharles. "It will be a real rock and roll event. I have seen Kings of Leon live and I've spent a lot of time and effort putting the deal together," he said. Lord Mountcharles, who celebrated his 60th birthday on Monday, said he expects it to be a great celebration for his family. Tickets for the concert sold out in under 40 minutes when they went on sale last year and the gardai have warned that nobody will be allowed into the village on Saturday unless they have a ticket. Lord Mountcharles said his family have taken back the running of the VIP area themselves and there still are a number of VIP tickets available. Supt Michael Devine of Navan Garda Station said that up to 300 gardai will be drafted into Slane to police the event and the village will be closed to everyone except residents and ticket holders from 7am on Saturday morning until the concert site is cleared in the early hours of Sunday morning, possibly around 3am. He explained that the N2, from Flemington Cross to Slane, will be closed to all private cars all day Saturday and will be for the exclusive use of buses ferrying fans to the concert. Motorists driving to the concert from the Dublin direction are asked to take the M1 and approach Slane from the Drogheda Road where there will be plenty of parking facilities. Fans travelling from the west should travel from Navan and there will be parking facilities on the Navan Road in Slane. There will also be parking facilities north of the village for traffic approaching from the north. People with impaired mobility should only approach the site from the Navan direction. Supt Devine pointed out that non-concert-going traffic will be diverted away from Slane. Traffic approaching Slane from Navan will be diverted at Wiggers Cross and traffic from Drogheda will be diverted through Donore. He said there will be no overnight camping allowed and no casual trading outside the concert site and this will be strictly enforced. "The Boyne will be patrolled by the coastguard and our own underwater unit, so there is no point trying to cross the river. The Boyne is dangerous and trying to cross it could end in tragedy," he warned. Supt Devine said the extensive garda operation will be assisted by the civil defence. The gardai and organisers are urging fans to use public transport or to car pool and concert-goers are urged to respect the property and privacy of the people of Slane. Under-16s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Fans are also urged not to buy tickets from unofficial sources, as they may turn out to be forgeries. In the event of an emergency, two emergency routes will be in place to facilitate medical, garda and fire services. The emergency routes will be signposted and any vehicles found to be causing an obstruction will be removed to the nearest event car park. This route will be patrolled by designated motorcyclists to ensure unrestricted passage.