Residents win case stopping planned music festival in Offaly

The Residents of Roselawn in Tullamore emerged victorious from Tullamore Court House this week after winning their case to stop a music festival being held in the Roselawn car park in the town.

Kieran Conroy of 'The Phoenix' in O'Connor Square, Tullamore, had sought permission from the district court for an occasion licence to hold a three day music festival off O'Connor Square.

The festival was to have taken place over the St Patrick's weekend, beginning on Friday March 15 and ending on March 17. Each day's event would begin at 5pm and finish at 11pm.

The residents of Roselawn objected to the event on the grounds that there had been very little consultation, there were a lot of elderly people living in the estate and they had fears about noise levels and crowd control.

Health and Safety Officer, Breda Colgan on behalf of the applicants told the court of the safety features that would be in place for the event. She said there had been no objections from the Gardai and Offaly Fire Service had also given it the go ahead.

Ms Colgan who is highly qualified has worked on a number of events hosted by Offaly County Council, She is an expert in industry best practice and ground management as well as incident management and has many other competencies, the court heard.

Ms Colgan explained that the event would be held in a marquee similar to a circus big top. She said it would measure 36 metres in diameter. She said it has a capacity for 1,600 people but organisers were looking for a capacity of 1,400. She said there would be a wheelchair toilet and a regular toilet. Skips would be provided and a cleaning company had been hired to keep the place clean.

Acts due to play included Ruaile Buaile, The Whistlin Donkeys and DJ Jenny Greene of 2FM. She said it would be mostly trad music with a modern take.

Judge Andrew Cody described what Jenny Green plays as rave music. He said there would be a lot of thumping music.

Ms Colgan said the speakers would be directed towards O'Connor Square with sound levels ranging from 90 to 100 decibels.This would be measured at three points, the Roselawn entrance, High Street and the Post Office entrance, at half hour intervals.

She said people living on the Roselawn estate would be given passes onto the estate and visiting families facilitated. A temporary footpath would be created.

''You are going to give people who live on the estate a pass to go to their own estate?'' asked Judge Cody. Ms Colgan replied that this was similar to what is done in built up estates.

She said the gardai would be present at the event. She added that there had been letters of support from some businesses in the town.

Judge Cody asked if the car park was insured for such an event. Ms Colgan said the owner has insurance and she produced a copy of an event organiser policy.

However, Judge Cody said there was no schedule on the policy. ''I don't see where it says on the policy that there is permission to hold concerts. I have 60 pages of a policy,'' he said.

Judge Cody said he would need to see a licence. The owner of the car park was not in court. Barrister for the applicant said it could be produced if the court required it.

Taking to the witness stand, owner of The Phoenix, Kieran Conroy said that he had been in touch with the President of Roselawn Residents Association, David Keenan in November to inform him about the event. He said Mr Keenan said he would get back to him but he hadn't.

Solicitor Patrick Martin put it to Mr Conroy that he should have followed it up as he was the person seeking to hold the event.

Mr Martin said there were no public toilets in Tullamore and the venue would only provide one. Mr Conroy said it wouldn't be the norm to put in toilets. Mr Martin suggested that people will use the Roselawn area as a public toilet. ''Not if they don't have access,'' replied Mr Conroy.

Mr Conroy said people will arrive at the venue over a two to two and half hour period. It's not like a football club, there will be a gradual entrance,'' he said.

Jduge Cody asked about people just turning up at the fence. ''It is a public road, they can stand there if they want.''

Mr Conroy said that he had organised a meeting with residents last Monday evening February 12 but they said they were meeting with Councillor Tony McCormack.

He said everything will be of the highest standard. He said he currently employs 25 staff and between security and indirect staff the three day event would employ 80 people in total. ''This has been months in planning'' he said.

Judge Cody asked how was he going to prevent illegal drinking if the bar closes at 10pm and the event is not over until 11pm. Mr Conroy said he would stop serving at 10pm. But Judge Cody said people would have their drinks lined up adding they would have a full hour of illegal drinking. Mr Conroy then said he would finish the event at 10pm each evening.

Asked by Solicitor Patrick Martin, where the 1,400 people were going to go when they exited the event, Mr Conroy said that the majority would go on to other venues.

Judge Cody, said it was clear that Mr Conroy was not familiar with licensing laws. He said he intended to hold a rave until 11pm each evening and it would cause a significant disturbance to Roselawn residents. He also said there was no licence to hold a concert in the car park in the middle of the town. He refused to grant the licence.

Speaking afterwards, a delighted President of Roselawn Residents Association, David Keenan said ''We knew from the start that this was madness. To propose such an event in the centre of the town, as the judge said himself 59 ft from the first resident's home It's completely crazy.''

Mr Keenan said even if the event finished at 10pm they wouldn't be happy.

Member of the committee and resident Frank McKeown said ''they are not going to go home after the event. They would be full of beer, Roselawn is a very dark, quiet area and most of the residents are elderly people.''

"It's for elderly people," said Christl Bausch, who also lives in Roselawn. "It's for those who can't drive, they have access to shops and the library. Most of the residents are frail. It's not a very good area for a concert," she said