Cork event centre ‘not impacted’ by legal actions in USA

Ongoing legal actions against Live Nation USA will have no impact on Live Nation Gaiety and its involvement in a consortium backing the Cork event centre, a spokesperson for the Irish company has confirmed.

The legal action against Live Nation USA has been brought by the US Department of Justice and two dozen US states are seeking to break the link between Live Nation USA and Ticketmaster USA.

A number of ticket buyers are also bringing an action against Live Nation USA and Ticketmaster USA and are seeking damages of €5bn.

Concert-goers in America have been calling for a re-examination of the purchase by Live Nation USA of Ticketmaster in that country, particularly since sales for the latest Taylor Swift tour in the USA in 2022 were subject to lengthy online queues and led many to be charged very high prices for tickets.

In May, the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, launched the anti-trust action against Live Nation USA and said that the company was “suffocating the competition”.

In a response to a query from The Echo, a spokesperson on behalf of Irish firm Live Nation Gaiety said: “The Cork events centre, that we are very proud to be a part of, will be managed by Live Nation Gaiety (LNG), which is our Irish company.

“The legal issues in the USA have no operational issues within or outside of the USA.”

A Government decision on additional funding for the Cork event centre was due to have been taken at the last Cabinet meeting before the summer break, but this was not forthcoming when it took place last week.

It is now believed that there will be no decision taken on the matter before the Cabinet meets again later this month.

This move is due to the fact that the original allocation of €57m for the event centre was insufficient and additional funding was sought.

Former minister and Cork South Central TD Simon Coveney said last month that he was hopeful of a decision before the end of July.

“We haven’t allowed it die and now, I think, we’re on the cusp, eventually, of finalising the funding decisions that are needed to make it happen,” Mr Coveney said.

“I know people are deeply frustrated about it, and they’ve become cynical about it, but for me the only thing that matters is to make it happen.”