Tougher security for Guetta gig

Dance music fans attending the sold-out David Guetta concert at Marlay Park next week face heightened security restrictions as gardaí seek to avoid a repeat of the public disorder that marred a similar concert last month.

Fans could face searches on the way to the ground along with searches at the entrance, while sniffer dogs will be in operation to combat the selling of drugs within the park.

Plain clothes gardaí will be on duty inside and outside Marlay Park to single out troublemakers, and CCTV will also be in operation around the concert venue.

Guetta’s concert on Friday next week is one of three Marlay Park will host, with the others being Kasabian and Noel Gallagher on Thursday, August 23rd, and Van Morrison/Tom Jones on Saturday, August 25th.

To date Guetta’s concert is the only one that is sold out. The capacity for each concert is 22,000.

Superintendent Peter Duff from Tallaght Garda station said fans who are drunk or look to have taken drugs will not be allowed into the concerts. People turning up at the grounds carrying alcohol will not be allowed in unless they surrender that alcohol. Supt Duff said gardaí will confiscate any alcohol which fans are consuming on the streets.

The David Guetta concert is the one that has been targeted by gardaí as a potential source of trouble as it is has a similar age profile to the Swedish House Mafia concert at the Phoenix Park last month. The other two concerts are expected to attract an older audience.

MCD promoter Denis Desmond said the Guetta concert is over-17s and that the age restrictions will be strictly enforced. Those who are under-17 and have bought tickets can get a refund if they apply by Monday.

Mr Desmond said it only takes 0.5 per cent of a crowd to create trouble for everyone else.

Richard Shakespeare - from the licencing authority, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown County Council - said concerts have been held at Marlay Park for the last 12 years without any trouble. They have brought in €2.6 million in revenue for the council that has been invested in 26 playgrounds over the last number of years, he explained.

The Swedish House Mafia concert earlier this summer was marred by several stabbings and multiple arrests along with widespread reports of antisocial behaviour inside and outside the Phoenix Park. Two men who attended the concert died of suspected drugs overdoses afterward.

A report by Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan blamed promoters MCD for not having adequate security around the event, but MCD has disputed his findings and is conducting its own report for publication.