DUBLIN (Reuters) — Fans of the Irish rock band U2 have petitionedDublin authorities to abandon plans to demolish a studio where thegroup recorded its latest hit album.
A petition on the Internet (www.saveu2studio.com) had logged 2,146 signaturesas of Tuesday, January 29, 2002, when the Dublin Docklands DevelopmentAuthority will hold a hearing on plans to raze the studio as part of aredevelopment project.
The studio, on Hanover Quay in Dublin, was used by U2 to record itslatest hit album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind, and has beencompared in significance to The Cavern Club in Liverpool, where theBeatles spent their early days.
“I am simply a U2 fan and have been for over 21 years,” FintanKennedy, who initiated the petition, said.
“U2 were — are — the band of my generation, just like The Beatlesor Elvis were to other generations,” Kennedy told The IrishTimes newspaper.
“I certainly believe that the Hanover Studios are as important asSun Studios or Abbey Road,” he said, referring to venues used byPresley and The Beatles, respectively, to make many of theirrecordings.
The docklands authority placed a compulsory purchase order on theproperty in August as a step toward demolishing the studio to create apublic amenity on the quayside.
Four objections, in the names of U2’s four members, have been lodgedwith the planning board.
