Dublin club night Sunday Social has announced its closure after 14 years. The disco’s organiser Buzz O’Neil-Maxwell cited Ireland’s out-dated licensing laws as the reason behind the decision.
He said: "After 14 years, I have to close this up. Post reopening has seen the most stringent enforcement by gardai of the 1am Sunday closing. With no sign of the new extended hours/ licensing bill getting passed anytime soon, we were left with no choice. Can't run a club for two hours."
Sunday Social ran LGBTQ+ disco nights at Farrier and Draper on South William Street but the organisation tweeted yesterday that they could no longer stay in business.
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The news was met with dismay and frustration on social media, with many people complaining about the current state of nightlife in Dublin and Ireland’s restrictive licensing laws.
One said: "This is actually so sad to see. As someone who work’s Fri/Sat night in the service industry Sunday social was always such a nice vibe and chance to have a bit of the weekend off yourself."
Another said: "Imagine the stringent enforcement we're seeing in the city is making sure people stop dancing at 1am on a Sunday. Cos *that's* the problem with town rn lol. Get a life. Not everyone needs to get up early on a Monday morning."
The issues related to Ireland’s licensing legislation are something the government has promised to address in recent months. Minister for Justice Helen McEntee chaired the Nighttime Economy Taskforce earlier this year and has stated that she intends to introduce new laws later this summer.
However, that change hasn’t come soon enough for Sunday Social. Nightlife culture campaigner Sunil Sharpe expressed his impatience with the government’s lack of progress in this area.
"It's a joke. The amount of time we've been kept waiting for reform, without Govt putting any temporary measures in place, is astounding. Had all of the pandemic to plan to help sector return strongly and this is where it's still at. The 1930s would've been better than this," Sunil tweeted.
One of the main problems identified in the report produced by the task force was the prohibitive and overly complicated nature of licensing for bars and clubs that wish to stay open late. Under the current system, venues need to apply and pay for a special exemption order that allows them to stay open until 2:30am.
Bars and nightclubs must apply for a special exemption order for each occasion they wish to remain open late. This must be done at a District Court and costs €300 plus and additional €110 each time.
The government waived these fees in January in order to relieve the pressure on bars and clubs but that waiver ended in April.
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