What is a disaster right now as far as we're concerned could turn into one of the greatest events ever

Bono

The news was welcomed by concert organiser Lord Henry Mount Charles, who owns the Slane Castle venue.

"I've been calling for this legislation for years and I'm delighted that the Taoiseach (prime minister) has taken this initiative," he told Ireland's national broadcaster RTE.

The legislation is part of a Planning and Development Act which was due to be introduced later in the year, but the prime minister has asked for the section of the act which deals with events to be implemented early.

Under existing law Lord Mount Charles may only have one concert a year at his Slane Castle venue.

There is still no guarantee that a second concert will take place but the will is clearly there, though perhaps not in the village near which U2 would play.

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"If the good people of Slane could suffer the inconvenience, we could do something really historic here," U2 lead singer Bono told RTE on Tuesday.

"What is a disaster right now as far as we're concerned could turn into one of the greatest events ever."

Slane began as a relatively small concert in 1981 featuring Thin Lizzy supported by fledgling Dublin band U2, but it grew into a monster outdoor event with all the attendant problems.

Some 50,000 people attended a Bob Dylan concert in 1984 when law and order broke down in the nearby village and a riot took place.

In 1985, Bruce Springsteen attracted 100,000 people at a concert that was marred by violence and riots.

When David Bowie played in 1987, a youth was drowned and two were stabbed - the local Navan Hospital treated 57 people and a Drogheda hospital a further 46.

Slane Castle concerts were eventually suspended following a 1996 High Court ruling.

Permission was granted to Lord Mount Charles to resume one concert a year for restricted numbers of people in 1998.

As a gesture to locals Lord Mount Charles said he was looking at the possibility of having the second concert on 2 September - a week after the first.

But there may be problems ahead with this, with the Irish football team set to play Holland in Dublin on that date.