Hopes that Electric Picnic could go ahead following comments made by Chief Medical Officer Dr Tony Holohan yesterday which indicted that it would be safe for Electric Picnic to go ahead as long as everybody was vaccinated, have today been dashed by Laois County Council.

A statement released by Laois County Council claims that their is no way to reverse their decision from the 4th of August which denied the festival permission to proceed.

“There is no provision in law which enables Laois County Council to revisit that refusal or reconsider that application.”

Notwithstanding the comments emanating from yesterday’s press briefing from NPHET nothing has changed as regards advice from the HSE, nor has there been any change to the Government Public Health Measures in place in respect of hosting of outdoor events, from the position that pertained on the 4^th August  2021. 

The Planning Authority, Laois County Council, further notes that even if a new application for an event licence is made, the statutory timelines do not allow for the  processing of a new application to facilitate the event on the dates as intended in the application previously submitted.

No doubt, Electric Picnic will appeal to the government to have this decision overturned in the coming days and this won’t be the last we hear of the situation.