Slane Orgarnizers Dismiss Reports
Organizers of Madonna‘s first Irish concert have attacked reports that they were ignoring disabled fans.
Former Taoiseach John Bruton had claimed his officials were told there would be no discounts for helpers bringing wheelchair-bound fans to Sunday’s show.
Justin Green, of promoters MCD, said: “We take our commitment to inclusiveness seriously and take issue with any suggestion to the contrary.
“The approach taken by MCD in its allocation of tickets is standard practice across the industry, including such organisations as the GAA, Croke Park and Punchestown.
“Mr Bruton’s intervention on this matter is rather puzzling given that MCD received correspondence from Meath Accessible Transport on June 29th. MCD replied on July 5th offering a number of free tickets and direct contact numbers for our safety officer.”
Around 80,000 fans are expected to gather at the Co Meath venue, Slane Castle, this Sunday as Madonna headlines the one day festival.
The Fine Gael TD had said he contacted the promoters on behalf of Meath Accessible Transport to raise awareness of the problem.
The Co Meath representative said he was told there would be no concessions for workers accompanying paid ticket holders as they had made a donation to the Irish Wheelchair Association.
Mr Green said they allocated nine tickets to Meath Accessible Transport, which represents several disabled campaign groups, after correspondence in July.
In a statement the promoters said: “We would have hoped that a public representative of such long standing would have made a more thoughtful, and less opportunistic, intervention.”
Source: uk.news.yahoo.com
Picture courtesy of Jamesy