U2 had to pay €8,241 to close Dublin streets for new video

Dublin City Council charged €2,000-a-day plus VAT for the shoot, which also took in the Pepper Canister Church and an area between Smithfield and the Four Courts.

The council closed the bridge all last Sunday, even though there was more traffic on the roads because of the Irish Rail strike.

Rumours abounded that U2 were making a video, but the council has only now confirmed that was the case.

The local authority said the Liffey crossing was shut to facilitate a "U2 project".

Eight articulated lorries were parked beside the bridge for the shoot, along with a van bearing the logo of Panalux, a worldwide lighting company for the movie and music industries.

There was also a crane on Custom House Quay from a company called Musco which specialises in outdoor lighting.

U2 fans waited patiently in the driving rain on either side of the bridge - which stayed closed until midnight on Sunday - hoping for a glimpse of the band.

Security staff were giving nothing away. One told the Herald the filming was for a Guinness commercial while another said they were making a Cadbury's ad.

Normally, the council would detail the reasons for a closure, but it did not do so on this occasion because production company Pull the Trigger "was bound by a confidentiality agreement".

The company previously worked on the video for U2's Sweetest Thing, which was filmed in Dublin's Fitzwilliam Square.

Last weekend's production was said to have been overseen by Mark Romanek, a US director who has worked on several U2 shoots. Reports say the filming was for a song called Summer Nights.

Earlier last month, the band shot a video in the south of France for one of the songs on their new album. They chose the Riviera Studio in Nice as the location.

comurphy@herald.ie