Limerick so quiet on a Tuesday night what gives?

sasta le

Came down to Limerick this afternoon staying in the city centre
Had to meet someone over food got plenty of places in mind
Was keen to try the japanese place but it was busy so rather than ramble we qent across the road to Chocolat.Place was empty and cold it was like a tile showroom however food was grand average.
Asked for a few pubs was told lots.Went to collins nice spot and a few people.White House i heard of but it was dead and boring
We then went onto House very nice but lifeless
Then on for a late drink someone said Red Hen it was closing up so no go then asked said oh go to Nancys around the corner again closed not a late bar on tuesday
Just a bad night or average for the city?
May be out again Thursday where wpuld people advice for bit of life and maybe music?

pa990

Cork is quiet as well.

People are saving their money for the bank holiday weekend.

sasta le

pa990 wrote: »

Cork is quiet as well.

People are saving their money for the bank holiday weekend.

True i suppose

MEGA BRO WOLF 5000

Tuesday.

Also last week was Ul rag week.

Sully777

Hunky Monster wrote: »

Tuesday.

Also last week was Ul rag week.

Which would have had no effect on the pubs mentioned with the exception of the Red Hen as they don't serve U23's. Isnt the Red Hen late on Tuesdays?

Cookiemunster

Tuesday has always been the quietest day of the week. There's a reason Nancys don't open late on Tuesdays.

Sully777

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Tuesday has always been the quietest day of the week. There's a reason Nancys don't open late on Tuesdays.

Or Monday! We were in there last Sunday week. Pat Fitz was playing but the bar closed and music off at 1.30? Bouncer said it was closing time.

James McNulty

A friend of mine from Belfast is in Limerick one Tuesday every 3 weeks so that's our regular night out.
The City was empty last night. If there was 10 Rag Weeks on, it's nothing to do with the normal pubs in town.
We went to the Red Hen at 12.30am for a late one and they seem to have stopped doing their late bar??
Mid week drinking is gone in this City

Cookiemunster

Sully777 wrote: »

Or Monday! We were in there last Sunday week. Pat Fitz was playing but the bar closed and music off at 1.30? Bouncer said it was closing time.

Sunday closing is 11pm. 1:30am is late closing.

James McNulty

Cookiemunster wrote: »

Sunday closing is 11pm. 1:30am is late closing.

I've often been in there on a Sunday night until 2.30am

bazz26

Lots of people just don't go drinking on school nights for a variety of reasons - not bothered, cannot afford it, work the next day, etc.

Cookiemunster

James McNulty wrote: »

I've often been in there on a Sunday night until 2.30am

Good for you. It obviously wasn't busy enough for them to stay open. They don't have to stay open if they don't want to.

zulutango

James McNulty wrote: »

Mid week drinking is gone in this City

That isn't necessarily a bad thing. You'll find that's fairly normal in most decent sized European cities too.

Cookiemunster

zulutango wrote: »

That isn't necessarily a bad thing. You'll find that's fairly normal in most decent sized European cities too.

Indeed, I was at a Champions League game in Manchester on a Tuesday recently and the city was dead after the match.

zulutango

It's funny that in Ireland we measure the vitality of a city by how much people are drinking in pubs at night time. Cities are a whole lot more than that.

dominatinMC

Some interesting responses here, I think there are a number of factors which can explain why Limerick was so quiet last night. Firstly, as other posters have said, the bank holiday is approaching so people are staying in. Secondly, Tuesdays are traditionally quiet. But, I also think that the city "being quiet" on a Tuesday night (and mid-week nights, in general) is reflective of wider societal changes, where people are drinking less on a regular basis. However, the caveat to all this is that Limerick city center is often quiet after 6pm anyway. This is due to a large percentage of the city's population living in the suburbs - something which the council is attempting to address now.

Nevertheless, having said all that, the city should be a lot more vibrant on Thursday night! Pubs/restaurants are usually much busier as you approach the weekend.

zulutango

dominatinMC wrote: »

However, the caveat to all this is that Limerick city center is often quiet after 6pm anyway. This is due to a large percentage of the city's population living in the suburbs - something which the council is attempting to address now.

About 50% of the population live the the outer suburbs, and are largely car dependent. This mitigates against their ability to properly interact with the city. They miss out on what's going on, and the city misses out by not having them involved. It's a lose-lose situation.

Traditionally, the bulk of the population lived within walking and cycling distance and it was a lot more vibrant in those days as a result.

Exeggcute

Apart from Saturday night and maybe Thursday, Limerick is dead for the most part.

bazz26

zulutango wrote: »

About 50% of the population live the the outer suburbs, and are largely car dependent. This mitigates against their ability to properly interact with the city. They miss out on what's going on, and the city misses out by not having them involved. It's a lose-lose situation.

Traditionally, the bulk of the population lived within walking and cycling distance and it was a lot more vibrant in those days as a result.

Why do cities like Cork, Dublin, etc with larger populations living in bigger suburbs than Limerick, not have the same issue?

Cookiemunster

People living in the suburbs has nothing to do with people not drinking in town during the week. Pubs in the suburbs are are empty midweek too.

zulutango

bazz26 wrote: »

Why do cities like Cork, Dublin, etc with larger populations living in bigger suburbs than Limerick, not have the same issue?

Because:

1. They have substantial city centre populations in their own right. Limerick doesn't. If you take what is known as the Georgian area of Limerick, the population is about 1300. This is less than a quarter of what it was in 1811.

2. Outside of the Georgian area but still in the centre, there is a significant population, but much of this tends not to be a middle class, spending demographic.

3. We have 14000 students in UL. Many of these never or rarely interact with the city mainly because of the way it is disconnected from the city centre through distance and poor/expensive public transport. By contrast, Galway, Cork and Dublin have very substantial student populations living in the city centre (not as dependent on transport). We do have Mary Immaculate college near enough to the centre, and we have LSAD, but the numbers are small. Although not nearly as distant or disconnected as UL, LIT is far enough out too.

4. Tourism is a huge boon to the city centres of Galway, Cork and Dublin, but while I don't have figures, it would appear that Limerick is in the ha'penny place in this area.

zulutango

Cookiemunster wrote: »

People living in the suburbs has nothing to do with people not drinking in town during the week. Pubs in the suburbs are are empty midweek too.

I agree. But people living in the suburbs does affect the vitality of the city centre in general. The centre just isn't as accessible to these people as it would be if they lived near it. That stands to reason. The relentless moaning about lack of parking is effectively people admitting that going into the city is too much hassle.

mart 23

I think another problem maybe that there are no city centre cinemas to attract people there.

panda100

mart 23 wrote:

I think another problem maybe that there are no city centre cinemas to attract people there.

The IFI/Belltable films on a Monday night are always packed. I know i go because its close and convenient to where I live in the city and watching a film is a nice thing to do during the week.

stefanovich

panda100 wrote: »

The IFI/Belltable films on a Monday night are always packed. I know i go because its close and convenient to where I live in the city and watching a film is a nice thing to do during the week.

Yeah, but that only appeals to a certain crowd. Getting rid of the Savoy was such a bad move for the city.

sleepyman

Surely there's a demand for a city centre cinema?Also a multi purpose indoor arena that could hold concerts/tennis exhibitions etc should be something that's looked at.
Plus there needs to be more of an effort on maintaining buildings

Poxyshamrock

The city has three cinemas already. I can't see how a city centre cinema would work...especially with so many people living in the suburbs.

sleepyman

Poxyshamrock wrote: »

The city has three cinemas already. I can't see how a city centre cinema would work...especially with so many people living in the suburbs.

Fair enough but a decent indoor venue around the 6,000 mark would be good.Would love to see it maybe where the old Dunnes is.I know that's part of Limerick 2030 plans.God knows when that will happen....

Cookiemunster

sleepyman wrote: »

Fair enough but a decent indoor venue around the 6,000 mark would be good.Would love to see it maybe where the old Dunnes is.I know that's part of Limerick 2030 plans.God knows when that will happen....

6000 would be way too big for Limerick. They"re not even planning that big in Cork. 2 - 3k would be a good size.

Vanquished

Cookiemunster wrote: »

6000 would be way too big for Limerick. They"re not even planning that big in Cork. 2 - 3k would be a good size.

They are actually. The now infamous Cork events centre is to have a capacity of 6000. That's if it ever gets built. It's been dogged by delays and false dawns.

sleepyman

Vanquished wrote: »

They are actually. The now infamous Cork events centre is to have a capacity of 6000. That's if it ever gets built. It's been dogged by delays and false dawns.

Why is 6000 too big?We should be aiming to attract some of the acts that play in the 3 in Dublin.One of the reasons the city is so quiet is because there are no events for people to come in for.Imagine regular music concerts or a show etc being on.I spoke to a taxi driver when I was home last week and he said the place is dead most weekends.A few champions cup weekends and that's it really

The Lost Sheep

sleepyman wrote: »

Why is 6000 too big?We should be aiming to attract some of the acts that play in the 3 in Dublin.One of the reasons the city is so quiet is because there are no events for people to come in for.Imagine regular music concerts or a show etc being on.I spoke to a taxi driver when I was home last week and he said the place is dead most weekends.A few champions cup weekends and that's it really

Because Limerick doesnt need it or warrant a venue that size. There isnt the demand for a 6000 capacity venue in the city

PetKing

zulutango wrote:

The relentless moaning about lack of parking is effectively people admitting that going into the city is too much hassle.

Call it a niggling feeling, and this is just in my personal opinion, but I genuinely believe that there is a significant portion of the "no car park space" suburb crowd that simply don't want to go to, or use, the city centre space, and are quite content in their own hub. That's all well and good, but i feel they always jump in on debates of the city centre and it's future, offering nothing productive to the arguement.

testicles

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dcfc91

panda100 wrote: »

The IFI/Belltable films on a Monday night are always packed. I know i go because its close and convenient to where I live in the city and watching a film is a nice thing to do during the week.

Really wish that they added another night during the week, Monday can be a bit of a pain to get to!

pigtown

testicles wrote: »

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The greyhound stadium is testament to that not being true. As is Coonagh Cross and Jetland SCs and EastPoint and ParkPoint Retail Parks. And the Gaelic Grounds. And the Limerick Tunnel.
Any new events centre will be competing with UL Arena which may be seen as a good thing but equally may result in two events centres with neither having enough business to stay afloat.

Cookiemunster

pigtown wrote: »

The greyhound stadium is testament to that not being true. As is Coonagh Cross and Jetland SCs and EastPoint and ParkPoint Retail Parks. And the Gaelic Grounds. And the Limerick Tunnel.
Any new events centre will be competing with UL Arena which may be seen as a good thing but equally may result in two events centres with neither having enough business to stay afloat.

I generally agree with your point, but the UCH only holds 1000 and is way out of town and difficult to get to unless you drive. The city could handle a 2-3K venue in the city center.

seachto7

Cookiemunster wrote: »

I generally agree with your point, but the UCH only holds 1000 and is way out of town and difficult to get to unless you drive. The city could handle a 2-3K venue in the city center.

Then people would say it's hard to get parking in town!

panda100

dcfc91 wrote: »

Really wish that they added another night during the week, Monday can be a bit of a pain to get to!

The Monday night showing must be very profitable for the Belltable. It would make a lot of business sense to put a film showing on a Wednesday night as well.

stefanovich wrote: »

Yeah, but that only appeals to a certain crowd. Getting rid of the Savoy was such a bad move for the city.

Yes I agree but it definitely shows there is an appetite for film screenings in the city centre.

zulutango

Cookiemunster wrote:

I generally agree with your point, but the UCH only holds 1000 and is way out of town and difficult to get to unless you drive. The city could handle a 2-3K venue in the city center.

The UCH works because it serves the wider Midwest population, I suspect. That is, it works because it is out of the city. Same goes for a lot of the out of town developments. That's not to say they're a good thing in the great scheme of things. This kind of development tends to encourage unsustainable suburban sprawl and car dependency.

Cookiemunster

zulutango wrote: »

The UCH works because it serves the wider Midwest population, I suspect. That is, it works because it is out of the city. Same goes for a lot of the out of town developments. That's not to say they're a good thing in the great scheme of things. This kind of development tends to encourage unsustainable suburban sprawl and car dependency.

My main point though is that while a 6K venue would be far to big, Limerick needs a venue larger than the UCH and the city center would be the ideal place for it.

zulutango

Cookiemunster wrote: »

My main point though is that while a 6K venue would be far to big, Limerick needs a venue larger than the UCH and the city center would be the ideal place for it.

Yeah, I would be surprised if the city or the wider region could sustain a 6K capacity venue. But certainly the city centre needs a sizeable indoor venue so that we can attract big acts, conferences, etc. Building anything like this on the outskirts shouldn't be considered because of the long term problems it would cause.

goochy

would like to see something done with Wickies place in Ballysimon - aquatic centre maybe ?

testicles

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johnnyryan89

Cookiemunster wrote: »

I generally agree with your point, but the UCH only holds 1000 and is way out of town and difficult to get to unless you drive. The city could handle a 2-3K venue in the city center.

And it has one in the castle, holds 2k and has held two concerts so far and has another two this year I think. Cant see them building anything as long as the castle is doing well holding the concerts at the moment.

Irish_rat

You need big acts to fill 2-3k capacity venues and often to be sustainable. Can't see it happening in Limerick.

Also on the Tuesday night, Limerick nightlife is usually dead until Thursday. I've been to capital cities in Europe which were just as dead during the week.

pigtown

I'm talking about the Arena. It's a very versatile venue that has hosted conferences, theatre shows, dinners, exhibitions. I'm just saying that the business case needs to be strong before an events centre is built. It would likely take business from all of the hotels, the Arena, possibly UCH, the castle, the Milk Market. Maybe there's enough business to go around but I'd hate for other venues to be at risk as a result.

Cookiemunster

johnnyryan89 wrote: »

And it has one in the castle, holds 2k and has held two concerts so far and has another two this year I think. Cant see them building anything as long as the castle is doing well holding the concerts at the moment.

No it doesn't. The castle is an open space that can hold limited events. Arthurs Quay Park could do the same. What's being discussed here is an indoor multi purpose arena that could hold exibitions, conferences and concerts.

PhuckHugh

Limerick has been dead for a few years now -- It's one of the main reasons I moved, there's very little happening there but it is a very small city so it's to be expected. I'm not even gonna get into the discussion on what could be done, I was exhausted from doing it when I lived there... All i'll say is that the people who run the city are beyond inept.

zulutango

PhuckHugh wrote: »

Limerick has been dead for a few years now -- It's one of the main reasons I moved, there's very little happening there but it is a very small city so it's to be expected. I'm not even gonna get into the discussion on what could be done, I was exhausted from doing it when I lived there... All i'll say is that the people who run the city are beyond inept.

I don't agree with all of your post (I love living in the centre of Limerick City!) but you are correct with that statement. It should be noted that most of the people who run the city don't live in it, or anywhere near it. It's therefore no surprise that it's a poorly run city. You can't make good decisions for a place unless you know it well, and if you don't live in a place it's unlikely that you will know it well.

pigtown

Where do they live?