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The Green Party have called on Government to revisit late licensing laws and do more for the protection of night time culture in Dublin.
This call comes as the Hoxton hotel group who now run the Central Hotel in Dublin’s Exchequer Street, seek an injunction on Yamamori Izakaya nightclub on South Great George’s Street.
Speaking in the Dáil on Tuesday, Green Party Leader Roderic O’Gorman told Taoiseach Micheál Martin that this was another example of the diminishment of late night culture and called on him to proceed with changes to licensing laws introduced by the Green party in the last government that were included in the Sale of Alcohol Act 2022, and would create greater flexibility for late-night opening and introduce the concept of a night-time permit.
Reacting to the injunction from the new owners of the former Central Hotel, Green Party spokesperson for the arts, Councillor Donna Cooney said:
“This has really hit a nerve with people as new developments squeeze out what little space we have for dancing in our city. The night time culture of Dublin is an integral part and people who live in and visit the city centre want that vibrancy.
In the last Dublin City development plan, Green councillors got the word "clubbing" included in the definition of culture so it is a recognised part of the city's culture”
Green Party Councillor for Dublin South Inner City, Claire Byrne said:
“This is symptomatic of a wider problem of the death of night life in Dublin, and also the city being handed over to hotels rather than housing. In the last government Catherine Martin introduced funding for soundproofing for late night venues so we could have more of them. While licensing laws are central to this, a large hotel chain also shouldn't dictate the night life of the city.”
Green Party Senator Malcolm Noonan is now writing to the chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee for Arts asking him to invite Give us the Night and the wider night time economy sector to appear in front of the committee.
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