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‘She’d have come to Dublin otherwise’ – Gig boss plots megastar Irish comeback amid €225m ticket haul for 2nd-best year

A MUSIC icon may soon return to Dublin – after Irish fans missed out on the superstar’s tour this year, a top promoter has revealed.

MCD is on course for the second busiest year in its history – with sales of around 2.5m tickets in 2025, Denis Desmond has revealed.

Liam Gallagher of Oasis performing on stage.
Oasis’ sold out Croke Park shows have added to this year’s bumper sales
Getty Images – Getty
Denis Desmond at Richie Taylor's memorial service.
Promoter Denis Desmond said superstar Beyonce would have performed in Dublin if there was stadium availability
Crispin Rodwell – The Sun Dublin

Desmond said that business for MCD in 2025 “is very solid” and he said that the gross ticket sales from the 2.5m tickets would be between €212m to €225m based on average ticket prices of €85 to €90 per ticket.

The bumper ticket sales for 2025 follows trade industry journal, Pollstar reporting that MCD last year sold a record €238.5m ($245m) in ticket sales.

Desmond said that the 2.5m tickets this year follows MCD’s busiest year in its 45 year history last year which was boosted by sell out shows by Taylor Swift and Coldplay.

He said that ticket sales for 2025 “are very good” and said that upcoming gigs by Dua Lipa and Olivia Rodrigo are sold out adding that Croke Park shows by Oasis and Robbie Williams along with Electric Picnic are also sell outs.

Desmond said that MCD will sell slightly less tickets in 2025 than 2024 due to a reduced number of shows compared to last year.

Beyonce has just finished a six date sold out run at Tottenham Hotspur football stadium in London and Mr Desmond said that Beyonce would have come to perform in Dublin but was unable to do so due to stadium unavailability in the capital.

He said: “Beyonce is only touring Europe in June and Croke Park is not available until August because of the games being played. She would have come to Dublin otherwise.

“The economics of big shows at the moment means multiple dates at the same venue and there was nowhere available.”

He said that Beyonce played Croke Park eight years ago “and I’m sure she will come back here again to perform in three or four years time”.

The events supremo said that a series of gigs at St Anne’s Park in Dublin have been very successful this Summer while gigs for Fairview Park – where Kneecap performed last week – “are also doing very well”.

BUSINESS IS ‘VERY GOOD’

Desmond said that ticket sales for the 2025 string of gigs for Virgin Media Park in Cork have performed well for the likes of Macklemore, The Corrs, Snow Patrol earlier this month and Duran Duran next week.

He said: “We are in the third year of staging concerts at Thomond Park in Limerick and we have the Wolfe Tones and The Script there next month so business overall is very good.”

MCD Productions is owned by LN Gaiety Holdings Ltd which is a joint venture between Desmond’s Gaiety Investments and Live Nation.

The gigs boss said: “There is nothing better than a live show. You might have 10,000-20,000 people at a gig and they are all at one as they are all there for the person or people on the stage. You feel it and you come away from there, dare I say it, feeling alive.”

Person filming a concert with their phone.
A series of gigs at St Anne’s Park in Dublin have been very successful this summer
Alamy
Beyoncé performing onstage during her Renaissance World Tour.
US mega-star Beyonce is in the midst of her tour – but doesn’t have any Dublin dates scheduled
Getty Images – Getty

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