A High Court judge's ruling on whether a pop concert goes ahead at Punchestown Racecourse this weekend will also decide the fate of a concert at Fairyhouse on August 5th and 6th. Mr Justice Herbert last night reserved judgment until today on an application by a Meath Labour councillor, Mr Tommy Grimes, to stop MCD Promotions holding the concert at the Co Kildare racecourse because it did not have planning permission.
Mr Richard Nesbitt SC said a 1998 condition in planning permission for Punchestown said it "shall only be used for race meetings and equestrian events". He told Mr Justice Herbert that substantial local disquiet had arisen and objections had been made to the "unauthorised development."
Mr Colm Allen, SC, for MCD Promotions, said the planners had accepted that an occasional concert constituted a transient event under the Planning and Development Act 1963. He said the Supreme Court had held in the Lansdowne Road decision that planning permission was not required for an occasional transient event.
Mr Charles Murless, chief executive of Punchestown Racecourse, said Punchestown had been identified as a venue for pop concerts in the 1995 Kildare Tourism Plan. He said Rory Gallagher, U2 and Dire Straits had featured in concerts there.