Marlay gigs raise €420k for council

DUN Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council is set to receive a net figure of €420,000 for staging the Marlay Park concerts over the summer months.
A full review of the 2015 Marlay Park concerts was revealed at a meeting of the Dundrum Area Committee this week.
Cllr Neale Richmond (FG) welcomed the news, and said: “All monies received from the concerts are ringfenced for recreational spending and will be invested into improving Marlay Park and other areas under the control of the council.
“In Marlay Park alone this year, works have taken place to improve footpaths, upgrade Tamplin’s Cottage, construct a new golf pavilion and carry out tree works. All these works have been paid for by concert revenues.”
A report on the impact the concerts may have had on the ecological aspect of the park, specifically the bird and bat population, was also revealed at the meeting.
Previously, South Dublin Protect Our Parks (SDPOP) were outspoken about the damage the concerts were doing to the park.
In July this year, they said: “Marlay is not a suitable venue for concerts as the park is home to bats, birds and other protected wildlife. Irreparable damage has been done to facilitate bars and stages for the three-day Longitude festival.”
However, according to the ecological report on the park which was conducted by Scott Cawley Ltd, the concerts are “extremely unlikely to have a long-term effect on the local bat population”.
The report was inconclusive, however, on the issue of whether or not the bird population may be adversely affected by the concerts.
The report stated: “In order to minimise risk, Scott Cawley ecologists will survey the lakes as soon as possible to identify where there are nests present.”