Gardai have recouped more than €7.6 million from concert promoters, sporting bodies, and even the National Ploughing Championships for policing duties over the past year.
The largest bill was the €380,000 paid by Aiken Promotions for the five long-delayed dates by country star Garth Brooks at Croke Park last September.
It was closely followed by the €349,000 forked out by Festival Republic for policing services at Electric Picnic during the same month.
The next highest policing bill was the €254,000 paid by MCD for the Longitude Festival in Dublin’s Marlay Park last July.
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A similar bill was paid by the National Ploughing Championship for their three-day event at Ratheniska, Co Laois in September of 2022.
A sum of €207,000 was received by An Garda Síochána from MCD for the Harry Styles concert at Slane Castle last month, according to FOI records.
Rounding out the Top Ten were €147,000 for the Irish Open Golf tournament at Mount Juliet, €117,000 for the All Together Now festival in Waterford, separate bills of around €80,000 paid by MCD for concerts at Croke Park and the Aviva, and a €35,000 bill for the GAA for the All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Galway last July.
Of the €7.613 million paid by companies for garda assistance over the past year, around one-sixth of it – or €1.23 million – was paid by the promoters MCD.
A total of €1.132 million was received from Mar-Train Heavy Haulage, who transport “abnormal loads” like wind turbines and other difficult-to-move cargo.
Concert promoters Aiken Promotions paid a total of €731,047 for their events while the IRFU had a bill of €296,997 for a range of different rugby games since last summer.
Gardaí said non-public duty was performed by officers at football matches, concerts, race meetings and other events where they would not normally be assigned.
An information note said: “Members of An Garda Síochána have been made available for the performance of such duties and the state has charged for their services.
“This work is normally performed by members who would otherwise be off duty. It is generally the practice to charge organisations for the costs of duties performed by members inside the event.”
Gardaí said that in general, duties outside an event like traffic control, beat patrol, and other public policing were paid from garda funds.
“However, at some specific larger events, An Garda Síochána seeks a contribution from the promoters to overall policing costs,” the information note said.
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