The son of Lord Henry Mountcharles has revealed his father is battling a chest infection in hospital – but is hoping to be home to party with Harry Styles when he plays Slane Castle this weekend.
The former One Direction singer plays the famous Co Meath venue this Saturday as part of his Love On Tour in front of a sold out 80,000 fans.
Speaking at a media briefing ahead of the concert, Henry’s son Alex Conyngham revealed his ill father - who was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2014 - hopes to be home in time for the concert.
He told us: “He should be here for show day. He is in St James Hospital at the moment with a chest infection which he is prone to as part of his condition, but he is a fighter and we’re hoping that I will be sitting up there with him watching the show and he’ll be surrounded by his grandchildren and it’ll be fun.”
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Among the famous guests who could be spotted at Slane include U2 frontman Bono who performed at the castle in 1981 and twice in 2001.
Bono’s son Eli and his band Inhaler are set to perform at the Castle and Alex reckons dad could be in the audience.
Speaking about Inhaler, Alex said: “I’m delighted to see them here. There are other Irish acts as well so we’re in for a good day of Irish music. It’s not just Harry Styles. Slane has always supported Irish acts but if you look at the scene at the moment in all disciplines, I think Irish music is on fire."
Asked if Bono will make an appearance at Slane Castle to cheer on his son, Alex teased: “I don’t know. That’s up to the family. I certainly would want to watch my son play Slane Castle.”
Alex said he was “excited” to have the Slane Castle back up and running again for concerts after the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said: “It’s been since 2019 and the whole world went through a tough time after that. I’d like to have come back last year but that didn’t happen but we’re delighted that Harry Styles will be gracing the floorboards of Slane.
“What an act to come back – he’s one of the biggest artists in the world at the moment and a new generation of fans coming. "It’s probably the first live music experience for some people and what a baptism, what a venue to do it at.”
But Alex said that Slane Castle was not leaving its rock and roll roots behind.
“They’re (my children) definitely supportive. They’re plaguing me for tickets like everyone else. I think it’s going to be a different gig and a different demographic, but I think that is good for Slane. We need to evolve as a venue.”
“Don’t worry about that. That’s what we built our reputation on, but we have to be opened to the very many diverse twists and turns that the music industry has. There’s a lot more genres out there. Harry Styles is just such a huge artist.
“This gig sold out so fast. We are at capacity. There are no tickets.”
Alex said he couldn’t disclose whether or not Harry has arrived in Ireland yet and whether or not he will do a private site recce before fans flood through the gates on Saturday.
“I don’t disclose that information because you can imagine the scrum that that could create but we’re just looking forward to having him here on the day. This is going to be a big show for him. Some of his icons have played here.
“I think he is going to step up and deliver an amazing show,” he said.
Organisers revealed at Wednesday’s press conference that playing at Slane Castle was something that has always been on his “bucket list.”
Alex said Harry always wants to ensure the safety of his fans at all times.
“One thing I will say about Harry is his relationship with his fans is very admirable. He wants to ensure that everyone has a safe day. He’s going to deliver a great show and he wants to look after the fans.
“There is one particular thing I would like to draw your attention to. The River Boyne is a magnificent backdrop for the gig. It flows behind the stage but do not be fooled, it is a dangerous river so I would encourage everyone to please stay away from the river on the day and do not be fooled. It is something to be wary of.
“Admire it from a distance, look at it but do not get in it on Saturday,” he said.
Alex said he was “excited” to see his own children getting excited for Harry’s arrival and said he is “very grateful” for the local support who welcome the gigs.
Organisers also revealed as many as 30,000 fans will be travelling by bus, with many transport operators already sold out.
Event controller Eamonn Fox said a “comprehensive and robust plan” was put in place to secure private coach services for the event.
“On the buses, they may sell out and probably will in certain areas. There’s nothing we can do in that sense. We put on as many services as we can.
“We are bringing a city to a village.”
For those driving to the event, all car parks are independently operated and must be booked in advance. All public car and bus parks are a 30-minute walk from the site.
There will be four official car parks – green, blue, red and pink. Car parks are assigned when booking based on garda traffic management plans.
Fans are being urged to give themselves three hours travel time.
Eamonn said Slane Castle will attract a much younger audience to the venue who “don’t drink” and said there will be plenty of food vendors and soft drinks on stage.
“This is a new audience for Slane and it will probably be 90 per cent female… most of these won’t know where Slane is, never heard of Slane and are coming to it for the very first time.
“We did this audience in the Aviva last June and if you talk to the bar operator in the Aviva, they don’t drink. We did One Direction in Croke Park and they didn’t have bars. We had bars in the Aviva… the audience are lovely and compliant, and they stay sober.
“We do have bars on site, but they are not as big as they were traditionally. There are far more food vendors and soft drink vendors on site than bars this year based on the profile.”
Gates open at 2pm, and the first act will take to the stage at 2.30pm.
Organisers will not allow attendees to queue before the designated start time and no re-admission is allowed.
Under-16s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian over 25 and unaccompanied minors will be refused entry and all bags will be searched with promoters asking fans to bring only small bags.
There are also ten customer care points at the venue for parents who are waiting for their children at the concert.
Trim Superintendent Martina Noonan said 300 Gardai will be policing the event from Friday.
“We will have a major Garda policing plan in operation for the event. We have a full capacity of Gardai at the event. In and around 300 Gardai will police this event from Friday evening skeletal crew and there will be a sufficient amount of Gardai and supervisors throughout the whole day on Saturday.
She said all roads leading to Slane will be closed from 7am Saturday morning as she thanked the community in Slane “for all the help they have given us to organise this to be a safe event”.
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