Thousands of €30 tickets for U2 at Croker

At least 10,000 tickets for U2’s forthcoming Croke Park concert will be priced at €30. The Dublin gig will take place in Croke Park on July 24th, with up to 95,000 tickets available for the event. Tickets will go on sale Saturday March 14^th.

The U2 360° tour will open at the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona on June 30th. The band will then travel to fourteen other cities across Europe including Milan, Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, London, Sheffield and Glasgow before finishing at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on August 22nd.

Every venue on the tour will offer at least 10,000 tickets at the €30 price range. Additionally, 85% of the tour tickets will be priced at less than €95, with general admission floor tickets priced at €55. These ticket prices are likely to be welcomed by recession hit fans.

U2’s manager Paul McGuinness commented ‘We’ve worked very hard to ensure that U2 fans can purchase a great priced ticket with a guaranteed great view".

The tour produced by Live Nation, is the first to be held since the Vertigo tour of 2005/06.

Arthur Fogel, CEO Global Touring/Chairman of Live Nation said "Following the overwhelming worldwide success of the Vertigo tour where every available ticket was sold, there is tremendous anticipation for this tour".

After the final European concert in Cardiff, the band will begin the North American leg of the tour starting in Chicago at Soldier Field on September 12^th. U2 will welcome a number of different support acts to the tour including Glasvegas, Elbow, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol and Black Eyed Peas with additional artists to be announced in the coming months.

The Less and More of 2009

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Another year huh...

As the final year of the noughties nears, it's hard not to think about what's being left in 2008 and what might happen in 2009. So I've been thinking about things I'd rather see left behind in 08, and things I'd like to see more of in 09.

Bad news first of course....

Less:

1. Celebs drink driving- clearly a) we know what they look like and b) the cops would like to use them as an example to everyone else - so why do they do it? It's either because they reckon they won't be caught or they don't like paying for a taxi or a driver..... So celebs- stop doing it because it's just plain annoying, never mind dangerous...

2. 'R' word whining by people who can change things- Cowen, the government, shop owners, builders.... stop whining about people not spending money on overpriced things. People won't feel the need to go to Newry if you lower prices and lower the VAT rate. As for the builders trying to sell overpriced houses for €1.8/2 million- be realistic, you're not going to get the €1.5m profit you were planning on, so just sell those empty houses for a reasonable price and start repaying those bank loans.

3. Spencer Pratt still in our lives- of The Hills fame - the Speidi union is bad enough and Heidi isn't that bad, but her keeping Spencer as a boyfriend when he behaves worse than a small child is criminal. The world has never seen such an immature young man. Having created trouble by the bucketload with Heidi's best mate Lauren Conrad, Spencer now can't sit still unless he's making people pick 'a ship' to be on, and ranting about how much he hates the lovely Lauren. Go away Spencer!!!

4. High level people getting bonuses for not much/bad work- I'm looking at the banking sector here- getting a salary is generous enough for the mess that's been created and overseen by some of these people- but bonuses and lavish Christmas parties are just plain ridiculous.

5. Recession talk- it probably wouldn't be this bad if we didn't keep talking about it. Enough already, lets get the confidence going again.

In better news I could do well from seeing MORE...

1. Price reductions and better value- possibly the only benefit of the downturn is that we're seeing more reasonable prices, prices that we should have been paying all along. With the Sterling at rock bottom its good to see retailers finally having to reduce prices to more reasonable levels.

2. Cheap(er) oil- today a barrel of oil cost US$39, pretty good when compared to 2007's closing price of $96 a barrel. But while it's all good news as we enter 2009, and we can continue to drive the gas guzzling SUV's that certain sectors of Irish society seem to love, we have to face the fact that in the not too distant future our oil supply may dry up. Soon enough it could be back on your bicycles, so enjoy the comfort of the car until then!

3. Sunshine- We've been shivering for weeks now but at least there's been less rain than usual. So for 2009 can we please request more sun, less rain and higher temperatures.

4. Decent leadership from people like Obama- the year 2008 will probably be best remembered for the US Presidential election that brought us Barack Obama. A complete breath of fresh air Obama turned everything we thought we knew about US Presidents on it's head. Already admired by people and leaders around the world, his leadership and vision is something leaders at home and abroad should emulate. 2009 will be the year this man gets to show off his real flair.

5. Peace- some of the prosperity we enjoyed over the last decade may be gone, but at least we appear to be living in a peaceful Ireland. A time where people freely crossed the border simply to buy things cheaper is an amazing achievement given the situation just ten years ago.

I'm sure there's millions of more less and more's to think of, those above are just a few that I've been thinking of... feel free to add more ideas in the comments.....

Happy New Year!

UK VAT cut could push more shoppers North

The UK government's decision to cut the VAT rate from 17.5% to 15% could send even more Irish shoppers across the border into Newry. The move came today as Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling announced a £20 billion package to help stimulate the British economy. The new rate will come into effect next Monday.

Meanwhile, VAT in the Republic is set to rise by 0.5% to 21.5%. That's a 6.5% difference in VAT rates between the two regions. Then take into account the healthy Sterling exchange rate plus price differentials and you have a major incentive to go North. Recent months have seen major traffic jams in Newry as it's shopping centres fill with Southern registered cars. Those cars return across the border with cheaper alcohol, clothing and various other items.

It's true that bargains are to be had in Newry- for some reason goods appear to be significantly cheaper in the North despite the distance being so small. I recently clocked a price differential of €51 to £30 for a handbag (£30 is €36- so where is the rest gone?). Sure there's chatter about increased labour and VAT rates but that's still a huge difference.

Some of the media have been asking whether going North for shopping is unpatriotic.... that argument is truly madness in my opinion. How can we honestly be asking people to overpay in the South in the justification of keeping Irish jobs safe? Surely the government should be concentrating on addressing the situation rather than pointing the finger at frustrated consumers who are shopping with their pockets. We're in a downturn in case the government hasn't noticed.... so of course people are going to go where value is best. If that means over the border then so be it.

But the fact remains that shopping over the Border hurts the Irish economy. €300 spent in Sainsburys in Newry is stimulating the UK economy and generates VAT for the British Exchequer. Meanwhile Revenue has lost the VAT from your €300 shop that it would have gotten if you had shopped in Superquinn. Loss in VAT returns significantly hurts the Irish economy. The effect on society is less money to fund schools and hospitals. So where does that leave us? It leaves us with quite the dilemma- the choice between value in the North and personal monetary savings, or being ripped off in the South by greedy retailers but supporting the Irish economy. Oh dear.

Ultimately the government needs to take some responsibility for this issue, whether it is through cutting our VAT rate so that there's no reason to go North or finally tackling profiteering in Rip-Off Ireland.

Someone has to take responsibility for this, but consumers shouldn't be forced to choose between patriotism and value for money.

(photo from Irishnews.com)