Garth Brooks has done pretty well to sell out his comeback tour after being out of the game for ten years. However, not everyone on the planet is as thrilled as they could be.

Some folks in Dublin, Ireland who live near Croke Park, a venue that has sold out five straight performances of Brooks’ in July, are among those who would rather him stay away. Do they hate country music? No. They hate the traffic.

According to Fox News, residents are at odds with the fact that Brooks’ five-night run exceeds previous agreements the neighborhood association has that limit the number of shows that can be held at the park. These agreements kept the chaos down and allowed the nearby community to go about its business somewhat undisturbed.

“The issues run . . . parking and congestion, anti-social behavior — we’ve been unable to move in and out of our homes without harassment,” says Patrick Gates of the Croke Park Residents Alliance. “Litter, noise pollution — they’re all the issues that we have, and we thought we had an agreement with Croke Park. They’ve failed and they’ve breached every agreement that they’ve had with us.”

That’s not good. Now residents of the area are picketing and protesting outside of the venue to try to show that they will not be trod on. However, there is another school of thought on the issue. Some people think that the large, multinational crowds that are eager to catch a show from the country legend at Croke Park will benefit the community to the tune of several million.

Brooks himself is thrilled to be coming back to Croke Park.

“Before we go back on tour in the fall of 2014, I want to challenge myself, the band and crew,” he explains. “In ’97, we were lucky enough to play Croke Park, the stadium was under construction. 130,000-plus of some of the greatest fans in the world. I was quoted then as saying, ‘When this stadium is finished, I would love to come back and try to fill it again…this time to the brink’ — and we’re back to do just that.”

What do you think? Do you think moving into a neighborhood near a major entertainment venue is just asking for it? Like moving into a fancy house on a golf course and being mad about balls in your yard, for example? Or do these residents have a right to force entertainers to limit the number of shows they do to keep crowds down?

Image via Wikimedia Commons