QUESTIONS are being asked as to Thomond Park’s future as a concert venue, with a year having now passed since it last hosted a major music event.
With Elton John, Rod Stewart, Bob Dylan and Pink having played within 20 months of the stadium’s reopening in November 2008, after a €40 million plus investment, it was put on the international music venue map and viewed as a great asset to Limerick’s business and entertainment scene.
With JLS the only act to perform in 2011, there have been no announcements of gigs this year, despite the promise of bigger and better acts in 2012.
Meanwhile, Dublin, Cork and Galway, as well as smaller towns like Westport, have had an endless stream of concerts and festivals to bring in the punters.
In October 2010, the Limerick Post expressed fears that Thomond Park had been put on hold as a concert venue.
According to one local businessman, concerts are worth much more than rugby matches in bednights and revenue to the city.
“People make a weekend out of it when they are coming for a concert; they’ll visit restaurants and bars, which is a huge boost for the city as a whole”, Altaf Khan, general manager of the George Boutique, told the Limerick Post.
“With rugby it depends on the result; fans might stay around if Munster win, but with the new road network ticket holders are more like to drive in and home again after the match. They can be back in Dublin in two hours.
“It’s different with concerts, more groups attend them and it’s a big celebration where they want to spend and enjoy themselves”.
The Cranberries had been mooted to perform at Thomond Park, but this has yet to come to fruition.
Munster Rugby CEO Garrett Fitzgerald, blamed the lack of income-boosting concerts as a contributing factor in the €1,052,000 debt at the Munster Branch for the year ending June 30 2012.
The branch faced a higher than expected increase in interest rates on repayments to the IRFU on its loan to redevelop Thomond Park.
“It is a Godsend and brings a massive boost when things are going well at Thomond Park but we need more gigs to put Limerick back on the map,” Mr. Khan concluded.
Thomond Park management did not respond to requests for comment.
