Gardai warn against forged tickets

Gardaí have warned concert goers against buying U2 tickets from unofficial sources because of the large number of forgeries in circulation.

A small number of people were arrested inside Croke Park on Saturday night, but a much larger number were arrested outside the ground, according to gardaí.

A Garda spokeswoman said yesterday that arrests made within the grounds were for public-order offences, but the majority of arrests made outside in the vicinity of Croke Park were for selling forged tickets.

Tickets being sold by individuals for tonight, the final concert in the Irish leg of the tour, were very likely to be forged and would not be accepted at the gates, she said.

"Any tickets still circulating at this stage are probably forged, because the concert is sold out. These tickets can look genuine, so people have to be very careful about what they're buying."

There was no increased public disorder in the city centre on Saturday night, she said, and crowds leaving the concert had mostly left the pubs in the surrounding area of Drumcondra by 12.30am.

The city is set to earn €50 million from the 250,000 fans attending the three concerts, according to Dublin Chamber of Commerce.

The majority of Dublin hotels were booked out for the weekend, even last night when U2 did not play.

Dublin Tourism chief executive Frank McGee said the band was almost as big an attraction as the Pope.

"For the first time in some years, Dublin hotels are fully booked out this weekend. From a tourism viewpoint, the publicity generated by U2 playing in their own town is phenomenal. It's not as big as a papal visit but it's the next biggest thing."