Garth Brooks has described the news that he will play five gigs in Croke Park next year as “unbelievable”.
A further three Dublin dates for the country superstar have been added due to demand from his Irish fan base.
Tickets went on sale for his planned two concerts at Croke Park next September on Thursday morning.
Within 40 minutes, an extra date was added to take place on Sunday September 11.
At 10am, a further two dates were announced which will take place on Friday September 16 and Saturday September 17.
Tickets went on sale immediately.
Within minutes of the first two concerts going on sale at 8am, almost 300,000 people were waiting to snap them up.
The demand for tickets could see all five concerts sell out.
Croke Park was given permission by Dublin City Council to allow up to five gigs.
Brooks tweeted in response: “Just waking up to the news!!!!
“Unbelievable!!!!! All my love to you!!!”
The country music star’s five concerts in 2014 were cancelled following a licensing dispute with local authorities.
Dublin City Council said at the time that it would only grant licences for three of the concerts at the Dublin venue, however the singer refused to perform unless all five went ahead.
In response to the extra dates for 2022, a spokesperson for a residents’ group near Croke Park said it is “unacceptable”.
Colm Stephens, from the Clonliffe and Croke Park Area Residents’ Association, told RTE Radio 1’s Claire Byrne Show: “Well we say what we have said all along, that we find this is unacceptable.
“The basis for our reasoning is that this was investigated a long time ago by An Bord Pleanala and they imposed a cap on the number of concerts and the number of what are called ‘special events’ in the stadium. That cap was set to three per annum.
🔥 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 – Due to demand, @garthbrooks has added an extra TWO dates at Dublin's @CrokePark on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 September 2022.
🎫 Fri 16 Sept >>> https://t.co/x0dJhJBTxi🎫 Sat 17 Sept >>> https://t.co/0xQGt3EgK4 pic.twitter.com/9b1bZiVfbq
— Ticketmaster Ireland (@TicketmasterIre) November 25, 2021
“Three in any calendar year, we are prepared to accept and we feel that it is a reasonable compromise. Nothing has really changed in the circumstances. We think this cap should be followed.”
At a press conference in Dublin on Monday, Brooks said that while he would love to perform five gigs in the Drumcondra stadium, he “can’t see it”.
“I’d love to do five, but I’d also love to be 6ft 5in with abs,” he told reporters.
“What happened in 2014 was a miracle. Who does numbers like that? We got 400,000 hard tickets in one city and it’s impossible, there’s no way we are going to do that number again. There is just no way.”
An emotional Brooks went on to say it was “impossible”.
He also said that his Irish fans will now have a chance to see him perform.
“What was meant to start this whole thing, is now going to be where this whole thing ends,” he said.
“If there is a blessing in what happened in that curse in 2014, it’s the fact that there is a chance that this artist and those people, who are sweet enough to get tickets, now have a chance to see each other again.”
