The Garth Brooks Croke Park concerts debacle promises several more twists in the tale before the full situation is revealed, with all concerned parties commenting further over the weekend. Several avenues are still being explored, including holding the five concerts on slightly different dates, after Aiken Promotions and a section of the Croke Park residents called for the concerts to proceed as planned.

Brooks' issued a "it's all or none" statement after two of the five scheduled concerts were denied a license by Dublin City Council but, as per reports in today's Irish Times, it is understood that a salvage operation is underway with efforts to persuade the country music singer to commit to the three licensed dates. A license application for two further dates would then be submitted to Dublin City Council, along with a request to fast-track them into a decision. If this were successful it would likely mean that no Croke Park concerts would take place in 2015 and a strict limit of three per year would be adhered to after that.

Owen Keegan, the council chief executive, could make a quick and definitive decision about awarding licenses to new Brooks dates after information allegedly came to light that the Garda investigation is underway focusing on forged signatures in the original concert objection documents.

Support from the local residents appears to have splintered into a number of different factions. As per the Times, a group of residents are considering seeking a High Court injunction to prevent the three licensed concerts from going ahead while a separate group, also local residents, held a rally on Sunday to campaign for licences to be granted for all five concerts.

Concert promoter Peter Aiken has said that "there's still a bit of hope" and he expects a final decision to be made on Monday or Tuesday of this week. Aiken emphasised though that as things stand "there's no concerts."

Meanwhile, the Local Vintners Association (LVA) has condemned the ruling, saying the licensing decision could cost the city up to €15 million. Donall O'Keeffe of the LVA said: "this is a very difficult economy for every industry in the city and the Garth Brooks concerts promised a hugely significant boost for pubs and the wider hospitality industry. Our members need clarity on this as a matter of urgency."

(via Irish Times/Belfast Telegraph)