Would the real court case please stand up

MCD have taken an action to recover losses from the non-appearance of the world's biggest rap star, Eminem, at Slane Castle in 2005.

The promoters are suing Liberty Syndicate Management Ltd., and other defendants for the losses occured.

The gig was cancelled at relatively short notice, with the singer pleading nervous exhaustion. The cancellation proved to be a major blow to the status of Slane as a festival venue.

No major artist could be enticed there to headline in 2006, with the two year hiatus threatening to make it all the more difficult to re-establish what had been an annual fixture in the rock calendar for a number of years, against the increasing opposition represented by both Oxegen and the Electric Picnic festival, both of which went from strength to strength this year.

The case taken by MCD is against the event insurers and has been accepted into the Commercial Court by Justice Peter Kelly, who presides over the commercial list.

Correspondence has been ongoing between the parties since February 2006. Proceedings were issued early in August and the case was accepted into the commercial list this week.

The grounds for the refusal by the underwriters to make good the MCD claim are unclear. Neither Slane Castle nor Lord Henry Mountcharles are party to the action. Liberty Syndicates is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Mutual, with the group's underwriting being handled through Liberty International. "The Lloyd's Syndicates and London are an integral part of the Liberty Mutual Group," the company's website states.