Irish licencing laws

wideangle

Will we ever have allnight licenced clubs in Ireland?
What is your opinion on this?
We are basically the last counrty in Europe with clubs closing at 2am,if the closing was staggered their would be less crowds on the streets.

I know some of the Dublin clubs stay open longer than 2am which ones and why,how can they do it when so many others cannot.

nylo

i agree, i think if places could stay open later there would definitely be less trouble on the streets. unfortunately the politicians dont see it this way. the way things are going here, licensing laws are only getting stricter and stricter. it's ridiculous.

hopefully someday it will all change and ill still be young enough to enjoy it

jonny68

Already a website set up about our draconian licensing laws,
http://www.giveusthenight.com/index.php

we are effectively years behind the rest of Europe and it's shameful that in 2007 people don't have the choice to stay out dancing or drinking all night if they so wish to do so,it works well in the rest of Europe and there are 24 hour bars and clubs in the UK and despite the so called horror stories about people getting hammered and all sorts of mayhem it has been nothing of the sort and has worked very well.

It was actually a lot better in the early 1990's for those of you who remember Sides used to stay open until 6am, and i recall leaving the Asylum one morning at 9.30am bleary eyed after a top nite, something has to give anyway.

jonny68

Spot on.....

Staggered Closing

We believe that there should be a nationwide system of sequential closing times in place with regard to pubs and nightclubs.

We feel that the main cause for public order and alcohol-related offences at night in Irish cities, towns and other urban centres is linked to the simultaneous closing of pubs, late bars and nightclubs.

This results in large numbers of people being on the streets at the same time, all looking for the same taxis, public transport services and fast food facilities and in turn putting the Gardai, services industries and emergency services under great pressure.

Give Us The Night recommends changing the current closing times, which we believe indirectly encourage binge drinking. Pubs, bars and nightclubs could close at agreed, staggered times throughout the night, thereby encouraging a safer environment in cities, towns and other urban centres at night.

This sequential closing time system would mean that there would be less people on the streets at any one time. Consequently, it would make it easier for the Gardai to manage and the services / transport industries and emergency services to accommodate these people.

With co-operation from public providers, transport can be co-coordinated in such a way that Nitelink buses meet the gradual flow of people onto the streets at optimum times, while timetables for early buses can be scheduled to meet the final flow.

The sequenced/staggered closing time system could be agreed in consultation with the Gardai, local authorities or any other interested party (such as a local residents).

The system of sequenced/staggered closing times for licensed premises has proved to be beneficial in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. It facilitates the steady and orderly flow of people leaving licensed establishments throughout the night. We feel that it is time to implement this system in Ireland.

The UK has recently embraced twenty four-hour opening. Given the cultural similarities, attitudes to alcohol and record of late night public order offences shared by the UK and Ireland, it should be possible for Ireland to follow the precedent set by the UK and extend nightclub closing times so as to reduce public order offences and benefit tourism.

Sequenced closing times means that pubs, restaurants, late bars and nightclubs all close progressively later than each other.

Example:

* Pubs - stop serving alcohol 12 am
Close completely at 12.30 am
* Late Bars - stop serving alcohol at 1.30 am
Close completely at 2 am
* Nightclub Type 1
Stop serving alcohol at 3 am, close completely at 4 am
* Nightclub Type 2
Stop serving alcohol at 4.30 am, close completely at 5.30 am

These are suggested guidelines and are only intended to give an outline of what we are proposing.

Zascar

Why not try to get the politicians in on it - I'm sure there would be plenty of extra votes for a politician who committed to extending opening hours!

Tha Gopher

Can you imagine the grannys and mothers brigade voting for the candidate promising to let young people drink more?

Dont mean to be an oul one about it but tbh I think if they were open 24 hours we would drink until we collapsed. Fair enough I often go to partys after a club and we stay up drinking until dawn, but its usually beer. I think if we were all still in clubs at 4:30am it would just be a case of 13 extra vodkas or wkds until we were on our arse. Besides that, im not sure we could afford to spend all the extra I think the Irish are just addicted to being fcuked, and what works in Europe mightnt work here.

I see jonnys point, but that was back in the good old rave days, when you popped a yoke at 3am and were still in the height of it at 9. Drinking in your run of the mill club is a a different story.

jonny68

Initially there would be bedlam as people celebrate being able to gargle all nite by getting even more wasted than usual but after a short period of time the novelty would definitely wear off and it would work a treat.;)

Tha Gopher wrote:

Can you imagine the grannys and mothers brigade voting for the candidate promising to let young people drink more?

Dont mean to be an oul one about it but tbh I think if they were open 24 hours we would drink until we collapsed. Fair enough I often go to partys after a club and we stay up drinking until dawn, but its usually beer. I think if we were all still in clubs at 4:30am it would just be a case of 13 extra vodkas or wkds until we were on our arse. Besides that, im not sure we could afford to spend all the extra I think the Irish are just addicted to being fcuked, and what works in Europe mightnt work here.

I see jonnys point, but that was back in the good old rave days, when you popped a yoke at 3am and were still in the height of it at 9. Drinking in your run of the mill club is a a different story.

topdog8

Thats why most people over here get drunk too quickly as they have little time to do it in.. i have been clubbing all over europe and the states. its much better and practically safer, the only thing that needs to happen is stricter security and peoples safty put first.. Roll on 24hr clubs..

Tha Gopher wrote:

Can you imagine the grannys and mothers brigade voting for the candidate promising to let young people drink more?

Dont mean to be an oul one about it but tbh I think if they were open 24 hours we would drink until we collapsed. Fair enough I often go to partys after a club and we stay up drinking until dawn, but its usually beer. I think if we were all still in clubs at 4:30am it would just be a case of 13 extra vodkas or wkds until we were on our arse. Besides that, im not sure we could afford to spend all the extra I think the Irish are just addicted to being fcuked, and what works in Europe mightnt work here.

I see jonnys point, but that was back in the good old rave days, when you popped a yoke at 3am and were still in the height of it at 9. Drinking in your run of the mill club is a a different story.

CTRob

I'm agreeing with jonny here, yeah we would go crazy initially but it would all settle down nicely. We've left some clubs in london at 6.30, 7.00am and there has be feck all trouble and to be honest people disperse fairly lively

Executive Steve

from DMI:::

Hello there,

First of all, we would like to remind you to check out our new look website at www.giveusthenight.com. We have recently sent a new submission regarding the Irish licensing laws to Minister Michael McDowell at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The same submission has also been sent to the justice spokespeople of Fine Gael, Green Party, Labour and Sinn Fein. Please study the latest news entries on our website which detail each response we have received back so far.

At this present moment we have received responses from Fine Gael’s Jim O’Keeffe and Sinn Fein’s policy advisor Miriam Murphy. Labour’s Brendan Howlin has passed on the submission to his party’s policy department for consideration while The Green Party’s Ciaran Cuffe has still to respond to us, despite our numerous calls and requests to his office asking him to. Neither Michael McDowell nor his department has issued us with a response, other than a letter saying that they had received our submission.

We have made both Mr.Cuffe and Mr.McDowell’s constituency offices aware of our need to receive responses prior to the election, and hope that they will respond to us before Thursday. Any further responses will be published on www.giveusthenight.com if and when they come in, and we invite you to check back between now and Thursday to see.

We are aware that you may have many other issues to raise with your local canvassing politicians, however we do urge you if you can, to convey your feelings to them on the outdated system that Irish nightclubs currently operate under. Nightclub licensing laws are not a major election issue, however if more politicians are made aware that it is an issue to consider in the future, then the sooner we can see progress being made.

Give Us The Night urge everyone to use their vote in this general election. We also encourage you to carefully read all of the responses we publish on the website and to be mindful of them when you vote this Thursday.

Finally, we would like to thanks everyone who has supported the campaign so far and who has made our job a little easier along the way. We're positive about the future and the prospect of seeing changes to the legislation, and we hope that many of you out there continue to show us the support and enthusiasm that a lobby group like Give Us The Night need to succeed.

Thanks,

Give Us The Night Team