Other submissions cited concerns over outbreaks in a local nursing home, restrictions in place for other sectors, and “difficulty enforcing safety standards”.
15 submissions were made to Laois County Council ahead of their decision not to grant a licence for Electric Picnic.
The possibility of causing a “super spreader event”, “local residents health and safety”, and fears of overwhelming hospitals were among some of the concerns listed by the public.
Other submissions cited concerns over outbreaks in a local nursing home, restrictions in place for other sectors, and “difficulty enforcing safety standards” as well as “major health concerns”.
The submissions and observations were received and noted by the council ahead of their decision and enclosed in a document explaining the rationale behind the councils decision to refuse a licence for the festival.
Laois County Council on Wednesday refused to grant the festival a licence, stating the decision had been made “following the most up to date public health advice”.
The first complainant said that it would be “irresponsible to hold the event this year due to the pandemic”, also referencing an outbreak of the virus in a local nursing home.
Meanwhile, a second person added that “the picnic should not go ahead this year based on the pandemic and the difficulty enforcing safety standards”.
Other concerns listed included “Covid and the restrictions in place for other events/sectors”, “health and safety grounds”, “health concerns”, “Covid in Laois”, “health and safety of the community,” and “the influx of people to the town and the possible spread of Covid”.
One person who said the event “should not be permitted this year” also questioned the number of hospital beds currently available and the scale of the proposed event. Meanwhile, another also objected to the event on the basis of “health concerns”, saying that the holding of the event is “too soon”.
“The event should not be permitted as nothing in the plans have adequately addressed covid and preventing the spread of the disease”, another penned to the Council.
Another objected to the festival on the grounds that it could lead to a potential “super spreader event”, saying they would like to see it pushed back to 2022. While someone else simply said they would “like the event to be cancelled this year.”
The organisers of Electric Picnic called on the government on Thursday to interrupt its summer recess and immediately issue reopening guidelines for the music and entertainment sector.
Organisers said they “are extremely disappointed” at the decision of the council and cited the steps they had offered to run the festival safely, including mandatory full vaccinations for all attendees and artists, as well as preregistering details to allow for contact tracing.
The festival had been scheduled to take place in late September but will now be postponed for at least another year.
Anyone who has tickets for this year’s event will be contacted directly by organisers in the next week.
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