Some good gig news.

Once again, Ireland’s music and entertainment industry has entered a period of instability — with the new 50% capacity rules forcing many gigs to simply be cancelled or postponed.

However, there remains hope for the future, and Gavin James has today announced that he will be playing two gigs at the Cork Opera House next year.

The ‘Always’ singer will play the iconic venue next spring on April 2nd and April 3rd. Tickets will go on sale this Friday at 10am, though no prices are listed yet.

The dates are part of Ireland tour that will also see James play at the INEC Centre in Killarney on April 23rd. The tour also includes dates in Dublin, Derry, Belfast, Wexford, Sligo, Mullingar and Castlebar.

The news comes at a very disappointing time for Cork Opera House, which is currently devising how to manage the 50% capacity limit with regard to its Panto, which is intended to run from December 10th to January 9th. In a statement issued last week following the government announcement of new restrictions, the venue said “our team will work very hard over the coming days to make the necessary decisions relating to the Panto and we will do our best to answer all your queries as soon as we possibly can.”