--- title: "Sold-out Ireland tickets: face-value resale and the law | Alertix" description: "How sold-out tickets come back in Ireland: the Sale of Tickets Act 2021 and designated events, Ticketmaster Ireland's fan-to-fan resale at face value, and what to set up before a listing appears." source: https://alertix.app/blog/sold-out-ireland-tickets-face-value-guide --- [Back to Blog](https://alertix.app/blog) Guide # Sold out in Ireland? Face-value resale and the designated-event law, explained 5 September 2026 • 6 min read S Sarah from Alertix The Alertix team, watching official face-value resale channels for sold-out events. **TL;DR.** Ireland's Sale of Tickets Act 2021 makes reselling above face value unlawful for *designated* events, and only those; designation is granted event by event on application. Electric Picnic's ticket terms have carried its designation every year since 2023. Designated or not, most Irish shows sell through Ticketmaster Ireland, and its fan-to-fan resale relists returned tickets at the price paid, on the event page, with no announcement. So the price is capped either by law or by the platform; what is never capped is the number of people waiting. ## What the Act actually does The Sale of Tickets (Cultural, Entertainment, Recreational and Sporting Events) Act 2021 does two things that matter to a buyer. It makes it unlawful to sell a ticket above face value for a designated event, and it lets the Minister designate events, one by one, on application from the organiser or venue. It is not a blanket ban on Irish resale. An arena show with no designation is outside the cap; a designated festival is inside it wherever the sale happens, including on a marketplace or in a fan group. The practical test is the event's own ticket terms. Electric Picnic's have said, for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026, that as a designated event under section 9(1) it is unlawful to resell above face value or to buy beyond the ticket limit. [Our Electric Picnic 2027 guide](https://alertix.app/blog/electric-picnic-2027-sold-out-tickets) goes through what that means for the sold-out weekend. For a show with no such line, treat the price as uncapped by law and rely on the official route instead. ## Where the returns actually come back Ticketmaster Ireland is the official seller for most Irish concerts and festivals, and its fan-to-fan exchange is where a ticket goes when its owner cannot use it. The seller lists from their account at the price they paid or less, Ticketmaster verifies and reissues the ticket, and the listing sits on the event page until someone buys it. There is no separate resale site. [How the exchange works on both sides](https://alertix.app/blog/ticketmaster-fan-to-fan-resale-explained) is written up separately, and it is the same system on the UK site with an Irish account. Twickets, the fan-to-fan marketplace capped at face value, carries whatever Irish tickets fans choose to list there. Where an organiser names Ticketmaster resale as the only official route, as Electric Picnic does, a Twickets listing is outside the organiser's terms even at face value, and the festival is blunt that a ticket advertised anywhere other than Ticketmaster stands a good chance of being a rip-off. ## What "sold out" means for the events we cover - **Electric Picnic 2027**: 80,000 tickets sold on 4 September 2026, designated by the festival's own account, returns on Ticketmaster resale at face value. [When they come back](https://alertix.app/blog/electric-picnic-2027-when-tickets-come-back) . - **ADÉLA at 3Olympia**, 13 and 14 January 2027: both nights sold out, no designation we have seen, official resale at the price paid regardless. [Our guide](https://alertix.app/blog/adela-dublin-3olympia-2027-tickets-sold-out) . - **Westlife 25 at 3Arena**: ten Dublin nights from 11 September 2026, part of a 40-date tour. [The autumn tours roundup](https://alertix.app/blog/autumn-2026-uk-arena-tours-tickets-resale) . ## Before you need it - A Ticketmaster.ie account, logged in on your phone. It is separate from a .co.uk account. - The event's ticket terms read once, so you know whether the law caps the price or only the platform does. - For a designated event, a price above face value is a warning, not a bargain. - Expect singles and pairs; Irish festivals in particular return tickets one at a time across a long window. ## Where we come in Alertix watches the official resale site for the Irish events we cover and pushes an alert the moment a listing appears, linked to it. We never buy, hold or resell tickets and cannot promise a return; we can make sure you hear about it while it is still there. The [events page](https://alertix.app/events) lists what we cover in Ireland and the UK. ## Questions people actually ask ### Is it illegal to resell tickets above face value in Ireland? Only for designated events. The Sale of Tickets Act 2021 makes above-face-value resale unlawful for events that have been formally designated under section 9(1), on application, one at a time. Electric Picnic's ticket terms have stated its designation every year since 2023. For an event that is not designated, the law does not cap the price, though the official resale routes still do. ### Where do sold-out Irish tickets come back? For most Irish shows, Ticketmaster Ireland is the official seller and its fan-to-fan resale is the official route: a returned ticket relists on the event page at the price the seller paid or less, with no announcement, and is gone when bought. ### Does Twickets work for Irish events? Twickets lists what fans choose to put there, capped at face value, and some Irish shows appear. It is not the official route for an event whose organiser names Ticketmaster resale as the only one, and a festival like Electric Picnic says tickets advertised anywhere else carry a good chance of being a rip-off. ### How do I check whether an event is designated? Read the event's own ticket terms, which state designation where it applies, and the Department of Enterprise's published register of designated events. Do not assume: designation is event by event, and a famous event can be undesignated in a given year. ## Related guides - [Guide Electric Picnic 2027 sold out: how to get tickets now](https://alertix.app/blog/electric-picnic-2027-sold-out-tickets) - [Guide Fontaines D.C. arena tour sold out: how to get tickets for November](https://alertix.app/blog/fontaines-dc-uk-arena-tour-2026-sold-out-tickets) - [Guide Celine Dion in Paris: how to get residency tickets now they are sold out](https://alertix.app/blog/celine-dion-paris-residency-tickets-sold-out) [Set Up Alerts](https://alertix.app/events)