Taoiseach attempts to save Garth Brooks concerts

The talks come after Taoiseach Enda Kenny last night intervened after Brooks declared he would still perform in Dublin if five concerts could be staged.

In an open letter to concert promoter Peter Aiken, Mr Brooks said his ‘heart was breaking’ after being informed that all five concerts were cancelled.

He said: “Our guys are still en route and if there is any chance that the five planned concerts can be salvaged and nobody is being let down then we can proceed as planned until the refunds begin.

“If you tell me, ‘Garth, thanks but it is over’ I will cease my efforts and bring our people and gear back to the States. If you think for any reason that the ‘powers that be’ in Ireland can fix this, then I will faithfully go to the last second.”

Garth Brooks is due to hold a news conference in Nashville at 17:00 BST today where he is expected to address the issue of his Irish concerts.

The refund process for the 400,000 tickets sold for the Croke Park gigs began yesterday.

Dublin City Council granted permission last week for just three of the country singer’s planned concerts later this month, but Aiken Promotions announced on Monday that having “exhausted all avenues”, none of the shows would go ahead.