U2's PLANNED Dublin concert in the Phoenix Park on August 30th has been cancelled because the event is not financially viable, according to the promoter.
"It just didn't make financial sense", said Mr Jim Aiken. "Everybody saw it as a wonderful thing, but nobody really looked at the figures. After going through all the necessary requirements for putting on this concert, it was discovered that the idea should never have been a runner. It was a lovely dream, but it was not to be."
Mr Aiken was unable to say if a new venue and date would be sought for a U2 concert in Ireland, but he hoped that if the POPMart concert was rescheduled, Aiken Promotions would once again be involved.
Mr Aiken has contacted both Dublin Corporation and the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht to inform them that U2 will not be going ahead with the concert. The decision was reached after last-minute discussions between U2, Aiken Promotions and the tour's worldwide promoter, TNA, at which it was concluded that staging the POPMart show in the Phoenix Park was not financially viable.
According to Mr Aiken, the cost of holding the concert would have exceeded £2 million, and the only way to make it pay would be either to raise the ticket price from £25 or increase the capacity to more than 100,000. However, U2 was determined to keep the ticket prices low, and the leave to seek planning permission was granted on the basis of a maximum capacity of 100,000.
Mr Aiken said that a feasibility study had been completed three months ago, which assessed the cost of meeting all requirements for safety, sanitation and crowd control as set down in the Code of Practice for Outdoor Events.
"Ireland is the most heavily regulated country for safety at concerts, and I totally agree with that," Mr Aiken said.
U2 last played performed in Ireland in 1993, when the hugely successful ZooTV tour played the RDS in Dublin and Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork.
Since it opened in Las Vegas on April 25th, U2's POPMart tour has been dogged by reports of poor ticket sales, but it is not known if this affected the band's decision to pull out of the Phoenix Park concert. Two of the band's US dates, in Denver and San Diego, were only half-full, while most of the other shows have fallen far short of their capacity.
The POPMart tour is one of the biggest and most expensive ever staged, costing about £1 million per week to keep on the road.
There are 100 shows scheduled in US, Europe, South America, South Africa, Australia, Japan and South-east Asia, with a total expected gross of £250 million. It is not due to end until well into next year.
