Fans arrive for the first of three sellout One Direction concerts at Croke Park.
Created on reality music competition 'The X Factor’ in 2010, One Direction band members are Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne. Now the band is bringing the ‘Where We Are' world tour to Dublin. Over the course of three dates, close to a quarter of a million fans will attend the sellout gigs in Croke Park.
Concertgoers make their way to the first show in high spirits, many particularly looking forward to seeing 20-year-old Niall Horan,
He’s Irish, he’s from Mullingar and I love his accent.
Earlier the County Westmeath native told 2fm DJ Nicky Byrne that he was looking forward to the best weekend of his life.
It’s the biggest show on the tour so we’re all really excited about it and it’s going to be nuts in there tonight.
With over 80,000 fans at each concert and about two-thirds under 18 years old, concert promoter MCD is working hard to ensure a safe environment inside and outside the stadium. The planning has been going on since before the tickets went on sale.
Event controller with MCD Eamon Fox, explains that anyone under the age of 14 is not allowed onto the pitch. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.
We’ve extra staff on, we’ve extra types of staff in who we’ve hired, who are used to dealing with kids of this age.
Inside the stadium, a photo released by the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) shows the One Direction stage assembled over Hill 16.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 23 May 2014. The reporter is Sinéad Crowley.
