U2 concert to mean streets with no access

Motorists around Croke Park can look forward to traffic diversions, road closures and restricted access as U2 take over Croke…

Motorists around Croke Park can look forward to traffic diversions, road closures and restricted access as U2 take over Croke Park this weekend.

Thousands of fans are expected to descend on the stadium for the three concerts, scheduled to take place on Friday, Saturday and Monday.

Echoing match days at the stadium, gardaí plan to limit access at a number of junctions on the North Circular Road and the Lower Drumcondra Road.

From 9am each day, a traffic restriction cordon will be set up with restricted access to Clonliffe Road at the junctions of Lower Drumcondra Road and at Ballybough Road. Junctions at Fitzroy Avenue and Whitworth Place with Lower Drumcondra will also have restricted access.

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On the North Circular Road, a number of junctions will have restricted access, including Lower Sherrard Street, Belvedere Avenue, Portland Street North, Russell Street, St. Margaret's Avenue and North Richmond Street.

Junctions with Ballybough Road with restricted access include Sackville Avenue, Fosters Avenue, Clonliffe Avenue, O' Sullivan's Avenue.

After the concert, from 10.45pm until 1am, an outer traffic cordon is planned to allow concert-goers to leave the stadium safely. City bound traffic coming from the Marino/Fairview area must use the Fairview to North Strand route; all outbound traffic will use the Amiens Street to North Strand route.

Summerhill, Ballybough and Fairview Strand will be closed, while the North Circular road will be closed from the junction with Dorset Street Lower to the junction with Amiens Street. Motorists will be forced to use Gardiner Street as an alternative route.

Drumcondra Road Lower will be closed from the junction of Whitworth Road to Botanic Avenue, with traffic diverted via Harts Corner, Botanic Road.

Those arriving to the concert by private coach will be directed to one of two areas designated for coaches to drop off their passengers and park until the concert has finished. The south side of will be completely blocked off for private coach parking, while the east and north sides will also be used.

Both sides of Popular Row will be used for private coach parking, although they will operate on a “first come, first served” basis.

A Garda cordon will be set up in the Croke Park area, and only those with a valid ticket for the concert will be allowed through.

Tickets for the three concerts sold out in a matter of hours when they were announced, leading to eBay sellers doing a roaring trade, with some tickets offered for over €500.

Some tickets for the third date on Monday were released for sale without warning in a bid to outwit ticket touts.

The run-up to the concert has seen hotel prices in the city double in some hotels, a practice the Consumer's Association has condemned.