One Direction Dublin gigs sold out as third date added

Tickets for One Direction’s much-anticipated return to Dublin next October sold out within 15 minutes today, as concert promoters MCD announced an extra date in the capital.

An estimated crowd of over 200 queued from early morning outside the Ticketmaster office in St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre as tickets went on sale from 9am.

According to staff, all those who had braved the cold from around midnight last night managed to procure the sought-after tickets.

It was a scene replicated throughout the country as fans scrambled to secure seats for shows in Dublin’s 3Arena on October 16th and 17th next year.

An extra date was then added in Dublin on October 18th. It too has now sold out.

MCD had previously warned those interested in purchasing tickets not to queue outside designated Ticketmaster outlets before 7am, an order that was seemingly broadly ignored.

The popular boyband, who sold 240,000 tickets to three Croke Park gigs earlier this year, had also announced dates in Belfast’s Odyssey Arena on October 20th and 21st. Aiken, which is promotingthe Belfast gigs, has added an extra date on the 22nd to cater for extra demand.

One Direction’s new album Four is their biggest yet - having reached number one on the iTunes chart in 85 countries with sales of over two million in just one week.

The album has also seen them make history by becoming the first ever act to debut at the top of the US Billboard charts with each of their first four albums.