Co-operation needed to ensure safety at Marley Park concert – Crowe

Dublin South West Sinn Féin TD Seán Crowe, commenting on the David Guetta concert due to be held in Marley Park on the 24th of August, said lessons must be learned from the violence and disturbances that were evident at the recent Swedish House Mafia gig in Phoenix Park.

Crowe went on to say “That there needs to be close co-operation between the Garda authorities, the promoters and the host community.

Deputy Seán Crowe said: “It is clear that there were serious shortcomings on the part of the organisers of the Swedish House Mafia concert and the unprecedented violence and levels of drink and substance abuse that marred that event cannot be repeated. It is understandable that many residents living near Marley Park are concerned at the possible negative impact concerts are having on their communities.

“There needs to be closer cooperation between the Garda authorities, the promoters of the David Guetta event and the host community to ensure those attending and living in close proximity to the concert are kept safe. This means having a strategy in place to address excessive drinking and illegal drug use as well as close monitoring of the crowd inside and outside the venue. Proactive early intervention will go some way to preventing drunkenness and bad behaviour and retailers have also an important role to play by acting responsibly and do ensuring alcohol is not sold to minors.

“The suitability of the venue is an obvious concern and lessons need to be learnt from what happened in the Phoenix Park which was too open and accessible making it very difficult to control the crowd and react to incidents whenever they occurred.

“I don’t believe however, that the type of music is a significant factor in how a crowd behaves but there must be a close examination of the likely cohort who will be attending any concert and this must be a factor in the pre planning and on the day operation.

“One of the key Garda recommendations coming out of the Swedish Mafia gig is that in future, promoters should stipulate the artist/type of music they intend to perform and there should be a detailed risk assessment based on the profile of the audience likely to attend an event when a permit is being applied for.

“It is also important however, that we don’t overreact to the unacceptable behaviour of a small minority of people who went to the Swedish House Mafia event. The vast majority of people who attend concerts, regardless of their age, are there to have a good time and this is a complicated issue which there can be no quick fixes to.”