All five of the Garth Brooks concerts have been cancelled after attempts to make the shows continue failed.
Aiken Promotions had been working around the clock in an attempt to come up with a solution after two shows were refused licences.
However, this evening the company released a statement announcing that they won’t be going ahead – and 400,000 tickets will now have to be refunded.
It is understood that Garth took the decision to pull the plug on the shows after discovering legal action was being taken against them by a resident and the scale of protest against the shows.
“It is with great regret that Aiken Promotions today announce that the 5 concert Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event at Croke Park has been cancelled,” they said.
“No concerts will take place. The ticket return process will be outlined tomorrow. Aiken Promotions have exhausted all avenues regarding the staging of this event.
“We are very disappointed for the 400,000 fans who purchased tickets for The Garth Brooks Comeback Special Event.”
Visit: Garth met Glenda Gilson when he jetted in to announce shows
Ticketmaster have said they will soon announce plans for their refund system, but admitted it will take time given the huge issues to deal with.
“The scale of this operation is unprecedented in the Irish entertainment industry and therefore we would ask customers to continue to be patient while we finalise our plan,” they said.
Gig organiser Peter Aiken had jetted out to the United States in a bid to try and get Garth to change his plans for the show, although it has now ended in failure.
The US country star attempted to take on Dublin City Council earlier this week, insisting he would only do all five – or none – of his shows.
His first two nights weren’t granted permission after Croke Park residents took on the shows with force – insisting it broke an agreement to only hold three concerts annually.
Tonight, the GAA said they shared the “intense disappointment” of fans that they shows won’t now be happening.
They added: “We engaged fully with Dublin City Council officials and addressed comprehensively every issue presented during this planning process’.
“At no stage were we given any indication that a licence was likely to be refused for any of the five concerts,” they wrote.”
More than 70,000 tourists were set to jet to Ireland to see one of the shows, with all five bringing in €50 million to the country.
If the Garth shows had gone ahead it would have been the biggest series of concerts ever to take place in Ireland, and would be the highest-grossing shows in the world this year.
