Ireland is becoming “too expensive” to host music gigs, an industry insider has said. 

Yesterday, Beyoncé announced her Renaissance World Tour dates but there was a startling omission on her schedule - not a single Irish city featured. 

In recent years, Madonna and Coldplay have also given Ireland the cold shoulder and music fans have begun to wonder the reason why. 

On Lunchtime Live, Rebecca from Waterford was asked by presenter Andrea Gilligan whether she thought the price of hosting musicians in Ireland was putting them off. 

“I think it is,” she said. 

“Even on the lower levels; underground acts would have to pay for venues or they’d have to pay 30% of their income on merch sales to the venue. 

“Then again there’s getting all your equipment to Ireland; so, let’s say you’re doing a UK tour and then you have to get everything over to another island and you’re not guaranteed the sales. 

“You’ll get big names like Blur playing in Malahide Castle this summer - usually that would be a sold out tour by now and as far as I know there’s still tickets on sale. 

“It’s really, really strange considering the names that are being brought [to] Ireland.” 

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Those who want to see Beyoncé live will have to fly over to Britain and Rebecca said that music fans find it is increasingly better value to travel to see their favourite acts. 

“You pay a fraction of the price of the tickets in Bristol - for instance,” she said. 

“Then you get a nice little holiday. You get a Ryanair flight for very cheap, you get a hotel over there for cheaper than you get here. 

“If you’re going for a gig in Dublin [and] you’re staying in a hotel… the tickets are so much more expensive, the hotel stay is so much more expensive than you would actually get for tickets in Bristol - definitely.”

Main image: Beyoncé performs at the half-time show at Super Bowl XLVII in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 3, 2013. Photo by Francis Specker