Latest news with #BoucherRoad
Belfast Telegraph
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Belfast Telegraph
Met Police are setting an unaffordable precedent for the PSNI - who will cough up the cash?
Hypocritical of UK police forces to charge over Hezbollah flag but not UVF or UDA Let's Recap. After all the outrage over the 'kill your local MP' comment 18 months ago, police in London have decided that their biggest issue with Kneecap is...a fleg. Back home however, the issue is not the flag… it's the gig. Today's LucidTalk poll shows half of people in Northern Ireland want to see Kneecap booted off the Boucher Road bill. Maybe those who think that Kneecap should be banned from performing at a sold-out gig at Belfast Vital would be better off spending the 60 or so minutes they'll be on stage watching a documentary about what's going on in the Middle East and re-evaluating their priorities. I recommend Louis Theroux's The Settlers.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Sam Fender and Fontaines DC Belfast gigs in doubt over 'safety arrangements'
Major gigs by the likes of Sam Fender and Fontaines DC in Belfast this summer could be in doubt due to a disagreement over "health and safety arrangements". Music events at the council-owned Boucher Road Playing Fields previously used a neighbouring site, held by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS), as an emergency exit this time the fire service has not given Belfast City Council (BCC) consent to use the site, BBC News NI NIFRS and council said they were "engaging" in a bid to resolve the issue and ensure "the necessary health and safety arrangements can be put in place". The playing fields regularly hosts major gigs with audiences of about 40,000 big concerts are planned for this summer including Sam Fender, Fontaines DC supported by Kneecap and the two-day Farmer's Bash festival. A site beside the playing fields - a former NIFRS training centre - has been used in previous years as an access and exit land is owned by the council and leased to the fire vacated the site last year after opening a new training facility outside Cookstown, County disagreement over access to the Belfast site centres on safety and security is also understood the fire service has questioned whether using the site would impact on a rates discount for unoccupied properties. 'Process of divestment' In a statement, a spokeswoman for the NIFRS said the site was "currently going through a process of divestment"."NIFRS has vacated the site and would be supportive of an agreement that would see the lease revert to Belfast City Council control, enabling the necessary health and safety arrangements to be put in place for the summer shows," she added."NIFRS continues to engage with Belfast City Council and other stakeholders, around the divestment process and the events scheduled at Boucher Playing Fields."A council spokeswoman said: "The council has been engaging with NIFRS with a view to ensuring that the necessary health and safety arrangements can be put in place for these concerts."This includes access through the NIFRS site for emergency exit purposes."As part of efforts to resolve matters, it is understood the council also approached Stormont's Department of Health, which oversees the NIFRS.A health department spokeswoman said: "This is an issue for NIFRS and its board."MCD Productions, which is planning some of the concerts at the playing fields this summer, was also approached for comment.
