Residents of Salthill in Galway city, including a retired District Court judge, are prepared to go to the High Court if necessary to prevent the holding of a Bob Dylan concert in Pearse Stadium in June.
The concert promoter, Mr Peter Aiken, announced this week that the American singer-songwriter was confirmed to perform on Sunday, June 27th. The concert is expected to attract 30,000 fans.
However, some local residents are up in arms over the proposal and are planning to lodge an objection with Galway City Council to the licence application made by Holohan Leisure on behalf of Aiken Promotions on March 5th.
Judge Al O'Dea said yesterday he was prepared to consider taking the local authority and the concert promoters to the High Court if they do not heed the residents' concerns.
"It is outrageous to plan a major concert in the middle of a residential area, and the hours proposed for the concert are ridiculous," Judge O'Dea said.
"There are a great number of elderly people living in the neighbourhood, and there is bound to be trouble if drink is sold during the concert for such an extensive period of time."
In their letter of objection submitted to the city council, the householders of Glenard and Dr Mannix Road say Pearse Stadium is a sporting venue, and its ground regulations say that the consumption of alcohol is not permitted within the ground.
But the application for the concert includes a licence to sell alcohol from midday until 10 p.m.
It added: "The residents are to be subjected to a high level of noise (100 decibels) from 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 27th, to at least 11 p.m. that night.
"Pearse Stadium is physically unsuitable for this type of event as it is open on three sides . . . The noise is due to continue until 11 p.m. and so little children will not be able to sleep until after the concert has finished, and many parents must go to work the next morning."
Residents are also concerned about the security of property and fear there is a significant risk of damage.
They also have serious concerns about traffic and parking, saying that the event is targeted to attract a crowd of 30,000 people to an area which has capacity for little more than residential parking.
Mr Eamonn Bradsaw, a member of the Pearse Stadium committee, said the concerns of the residents were understood and the committee had set out to have as much consultation with them as possible from the start.
He said the committee was prepared to meet the residents at any location they wished.
