concert punters to pay new Garda service fee (1 Viewer)

[Archie]

they examined the threat posed by "cowboy" concert promoters!!! ie.. anyone other than Aiken or MCD who actually gives a bollix about live music and fair prices for the punter.


Concert punters to pay new Garda service fee

Fiona Gartland
03/05/2006
The price of tickets for music and sports events is set to increase following the introduction of legislation under which gardaí can charge for providing their services, a seminar for event managers was told yesterday.
The seminar heard that costs incurred by the events industry following the implementation of three Acts are likely to be passed on to customers.
The Garda Síochána Act, 2005, which allows gardaí to charge for providing their services outside at concerts and sporting events from June 1st, will add to costs for event organisers.
The Private Security Services Act, which requires security staff to be trained and registered with the Private Security Authority, and the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005, will also affect the cost of tickets for such events, the seminar was told.
Gar Holohan, chairman of events management company Aura Holohan Leisure Group, said the three pieces of legislation place financial demands and considerations on promoters that have to be met.
"This legislation means that promoters must now meet the cost of obtaining indoor licences and of ensuring that all stewards and security staff paid to work at events are licensed, trained and registered," he said.
"Uncertainty currently exists as to whether An Garda Síochána will act on the legislation allowing it to charge for outside event support services which are currently provided free of charge."
The price increase was one of a number of issues discussed at the National Events Seminar 2006 in Tullamore, the first of its kind organised by events managers Aura Holohan Leisure Group. The seminar will also discuss site planning and risk assessment, fire safety risks, crowd management and traffic planning.
The two-day conference also examined the threat posed by "cowboy" concert promoters.
Mr Holohan said anyone can set themselves up as a promoter in Ireland, organising events for up to 5,000 people without having to prove they are competent or could respond effectively to an emergency.
Other speakers included Melvin Benn, director of the Glastonbury festival, Richard Limb, former chairman of the UK national working party on health, safety and welfare at pop concerts and similar events, and Brian Blake, principal emergency planning and licensing officer, Westminster Council.



© The Irish Times

 

[pavlos]

MCD et al would seem to me only to display competency in putting gigs on in shite venues for too much money

 

[das funkinstein]

i would imagine this will only hit aiken and mcd who put on really big gigs.
as for security having to be registered, its about time.

 

[SONYMEGADRIVE]

 

[Pilchard]

they can always go to court and claim the cops are there to police whats happening outside not inside the ground.

heres what happened in the UK with the Mean Fiddler at Leeds

from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/4969154.stm

Festival chiefs win police appeal

One of Britain's biggest music festival promoters has won a legal battle over who pays to police major events.

Mean Fiddler, which runs the Leeds Festival, had been ordered to pay West Yorkshire Police nearly £300,000 for its services at the event in 2003.

But Appeal Court judges said they were not "special police services" and could not be recovered from the promoter.

Lord Justice Baker said the ruling had implications for major events and any large gatherings of the public.

He said the court was being asked to decide on the dividing line between services the police must provide as part of its public duty and special services provided at the request of promoters, for which promoters must pay.

Lord Baker said: "There is a strong argument that where promoters put on a function such as a music festival or sporting event which is attended by large numbers of the public, the police should be able to recover the additional cost they are put to for policing the event and the local community affected by it.

"This seems only just where the event is run for profit. That, however, is not the law."

Allowing the appeal, he said it had not been established that a request had been made for "special police services" at the three-day event at Bramham Park near Leeds.

The court heard Mean Fiddler, which also runs the Glastonbury and Reading Festivals, had organised the Leeds Festival since 1999 and asked for and paid for "special police services" until 2003.

But in 2003 there was no police presence within the music arena and Mean Fiddler argued it was therefore not liable to pay for police activity outside the site.

Mr Baker said it was for the promoter to decide, after negotiation, what special police services it wanted, otherwise it would have no choice but to pay the police for whatever scale of operation they chose to mount.