BBC NEWS | Europe | Dublin protest could delay U2 gig
Dublin protest could delay U2 gig
U2 played three Dublin gigs at the weekend
People who live close to the Croke Park stadium in Dublin have begun a protest over what they describe as "intrusion" caused in the aftermath of three U2 concerts at the weekend.
The residents are angry that Dublin City Council have permitted continuous 44-hour works from midnight on Monday to dismantle the band's huge stage and then re-turf a pitch.
They picketed the stadium and blocked the exit of some lorries from 0100 BST on Tuesday.
U2 tour manager Jake Berry said the delays caused by the protest meant the trucks missed their intended morning ferry.
Schedule
An agreement was later reached to allow the trucks out of the stadium but Mr Berry said there could still be knock-on effects.
"It affects the tour schedule. Read that any way you want," he said.
"We should all not be talking to you and (should be) on a boat," Mr Berry, told reporters as several dozen residents protested beside three road junctions outside Croke Park.
Croke Park Area Residents' Committee spokesman David Purdue said that no one was "interested, in any way, in delaying U2 in any shape or form."
"This is primarily to get Dublin City Council and the Gaelic Athletic Association to take notice of us and recognize the damage they're doing to the local community," he said.
U2 has three "Claw" stages - one of which is being constructed, another being dismantled, and a third being transported or in use any given moment of the tour.
However, the band has just one sound and screen system.
The band is scheduled to perform in Goteborg, Sweden, on Friday and Saturday; Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on Monday; and Chorzow, Poland, on 6 August.
The residents are due to protest again this evening over a second night of work which is planned to lay a new pitch for the all-Ireland gaelic football quarter finals.