Dublin Millennium celebrations continue with fun, fundraising, politics and Fleetwood Mac.
The Millennium tennis match in Donnybrook’s Elm Park in aid of inner-city charities did not make quite as much money as Fleetwood Mac’s concert, but the competitors put their best foot forward regardless of ability or previous experience. According to TD Tony Gregory,
The only game of tennis I’ve ever seen was one on television.
A litter picking competition in the city centre also raised money for charity, and was supported by Lord Mayor of Dublin Carmencita Hederman. She confirmed that she would stand for election as Lord Mayor again,
I think the people of Dublin have said, seven out of eight people who have expressed an opinion want me to finish the Millennium, and that’s why I’m going forward.
Fleetwood Mac arrive in Dublin Airport ahead of their concert in the RDS, and founder member and drummer Mick Fleetwood attempts to explain the Fleetwood Mac sound,
Goodness me, I really don’t know. If you’d asked me that a long long time ago, it would have been described as a blue band, which we grew out of that many years ago. But the majority of our roots go back to approaching the music hopefully on a fairly simple healthy basis. We don’t like to get too clever.
This concert, which was rescheduled following two enforced cancellations in May, was much anticipated by 30,000 fans that had paid £18 per ticket. The gates opened at 2pm in the RDS and the band came on six and a half hours later. A long wait for some, but as one diehard fan says,
It’ll be worth the wait.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 June 1988. The reporter is Gerry Reynolds.
