One Direction cancel Ireland gig as Liam Payne falls ill

One Direction were forced to cancel their show in Northern Ireland on Tuesday night (20Oct15) minutes before the concert, as singer Liam Payne had fallen ill.

The Drag Me Down singers were slated to kick off a three-night mini-residency at the SSE Belfast Arena as part of their On The Road Again tour, but as thousands of fans began entering the venue, video screens scattered across the arena showed a message which read: "The show has been cancelled as Liam has taken ill, and whilst not serious, he is unable to perform tonight.

"Please hold onto your tickets. A further statement will be made in the morning. The band apologise to the fans and wish Liam better."

With concertgoers awaiting further confirmation, a representative from the venue later went on stage to repeat the news, much to the audible dismay from the crowd.

BBC Radio reporter Stephen Nolan was at the arena to interview the singers before taking the stage, but he posted on Twitter.com that he only managed to talk to Louis Tomlinson, as both Niall Horan and Liam were sick and Harry Styles was unable to come out due to his recent foot injury.

Last week (14Oct15), Liam also had to pull out of a planned appearance in London at the last minute due to illness, as he was expected to collect an award for Sexiest Man of the Year from British gay lifestyle magazine Attitude.

The day before (13Oct15), Harry stepped out in London sporting a brace on his right foot due to a stress fracture which he incurred after slipping onstage in Birmingham, England the week before (11Oct15).

A reported 30,000 fans hold tickets to One Direction's shows in Belfast from 20 to 22 October (15).

The band is nearing the end of their extensive world trek with three dates in Newcastle, England, followed by the final three shows in Sheffield at the Motorpoint Arena, where they will take a final bow on 31 October (15).

The boy band will then prepare for the release of its fifth studio album, Made in the A.M., on 13 November (15), and in March (16), start an extensive hiatus to focus on their own projects.