American country musician Garth Brooks has no plans to play a concert at Cork's Páirc Uí Chaoimh next year, a spokeswoman for the singer said on Thursday, after the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Des Cahill, said that talks were underway to stage such a concert.
A spokeswoman for Brooks told The Irish Times that the singer did not “have any such plans at this time” to perform at the stadium next summer, following its €70 million redevelopment.
The spokeswoman's comments followed an interview with Mr Cahill on The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's Red FM, in which he said that both Brooks and Adele are due to play the GAA ground next summer.
“Negotiations are underway to sign contracts . . . June was the date I heard for Garth Brooks and July was the date I heard for Adele,” said Mr Cahill, adding that he was “very, very confident” that both artists would play the Cork venue next year.
Contacted by The Irish Times, Mr Cahill said that his information regarding the concerts came from sources in the music promotion industry and the GAA’s Cork County Board.
“To the best of my knowledge, talks have begun in relation to two big concerts next summer . . . we will have the stadium ready and part of its planning permission is to hold concerts such as this and part of its building model is to host concerts like this.”
Croke Park gigs
Aiken Promotions had planned to bring Garth Brooks to Croke Park for five concerts in July 2014 and sold 400,000 tickets for the gigs.
However, the promoter was forced to cancel the events after Dublin City Council would only licence three concerts, which led to Brooks pulling out of all five.
Promoter Peter Aiken said that he knew nothing about plans to bring Garth Brooks and Adele to the Cork venue, which has previously hosted concerts by Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Prince, Oasis and The Stone Roses.
“I know nothing about that, even though my phone has been lit up this morning with media asking me about it, but there’s no truth in it as far as I’m concerned,” said Mr Aiken.
“I never mentioned either of those acts to a single person in Cork, but it’s a crazy world we live in - the Lord Mayor sends a tweet or whatever and everybody believes it must be true,” he said.
Senior administrator of the Cork County Board, Diarmuid O’Donovan, told The Irish Times that he had not heard Mr Cahill’s interview, but he was not aware of any negotiations to bring Garth Brooks or Adele to the stadium.
However, Mr O’Donovan said he was aware “that the stadium committee have been contacted by various music promoters with a view to using the stadium as a concert venue over the coming years, which is in line with the plan for the redevelopment of Páirc Uí Chaoimh”.
Mr O’Donovan said that refurbishment work at the 45,000-capacity stadium, involving the demolition and rebuilding of the two main stands, is on course for completion next June.
