Locals' alternative plans now Garth Brooks not happening

Birr locals who had hoped to listen to Garth Brooks singing live this weekend have made plans to take over a pub jukebox and play his hits all night instead.

Martina Buckley was at Croke Park when Garth Brooks played there in 1997. In January her daughter Rebecca (20) agreed to babysit her one-year-old brother Odhrán so Martina could camp outside Tullamore’s Bridge Centre for more than 27 hours to be sure of getting the ticket that would ensure her place at this year’s concerts too.

With all five concerts planned for this Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday cancelled, an at first devastated Martina has picked herself up and made plans to hear Garth in her local pub - Bergin’s of Killyon - instead.

“We’re all going to put money into the jukebox and play Garth Brooks all night,” Martina explained.

Martina will be there with her husband Sean and friends Rose and Liam who she bought concert tickets for, as well as a number of others locally who had planned on being in Croke Park.

Though not sure how many of the American singer’s hits the jukebox in her local pub has, Martina isn’t worried.

“We can sing the ones it doesn’t have,” she laughed. A former line-dancing teacher, Martina said she might even be convinced to show the others a couple of line dancing moves to go with the songs. “That’ll be late into the night,” she said however.

Meanwhile Tullamore taxi-driver Ray Melia, who bought tickets for Saturday night’s concert for the whole family, said he plans to swap Garth’s tones for local musician Ray Murray in Gallagher’s Manor instead. “He never lets us down,” he laughed.