Hundreds from Lurgan see Bruce in Slane

It passed off peacefully despite fears after the riots at a Bob Dylan concert the year before and the Brussells football stadium tragedy which happened the Wednesday before the Slane event.

Lurgan concert promoter, Gerard Skelton, who organised ten coaches for the trip to Slane, admitted he did harbour misgivings. “After people died in Brussells, I was a bit apprehensive about people becoming overpowered in the crush,” he said. “There were an awful lot of people there but thankfully the local fans were very well behaved and responsible.”

According to Mr Skelton only two people failed to make it back to the coaches after the concert. The fans came from all over Lurgan and set off for Slane at 11.30am and reached their destination about 3pm, just in time for the gates to open. Belfast promoter Jim Aiken had billed the concert to be the biggest rock phenomenon to hit Ireland.