How green is Croke Park?
Madam, – In May this year Croke Park announced that it was one of the first “carbon neutral” stadiums in the world. Last week a convoy of heavy machinery moved onto the pitch and the entire surface was ripped up to facilitate U2’s upcoming concerts on July 24th, 25th and 27th. The U2 360 tour features three 390-tonne stages criss-crossing the globe, along with 200 crew and backstage staff. The carbon footprint of the latest U2 tour has already been heavily criticised. Following the concerts, Croke Park will lay a completely new turf which will be imported from the UK. Forgive me for being cynical, or perhaps green, but Croke Park will be anything but carbon neutral in facilitating such an event. Declarations of being carbon neutral are worthless if used primarily for PR purposes and not based on scientific facts and made clearly visible.
