Irish pubs and clubs won’t get longer hours until 2022 (2024)

Opening hours for pubs and nightclubs will not be extended until next year or later, the justice minister has said.

Plans to stagger and extend closing times are among the reforms outlined by Helen McEntee yesterday to revive the night economy after the pandemic. However, she said that the Justice Plan’s more than 200 proposals would take time to implement.

“It’s not all about having longer opening hours and giving people longer access to pubs and nightclubs and cultural venues,” she said. “It’s about making sure that we have a variety and that we can support our industry.

“The reform is one part of the conversation, that once this pandemic is over and our night-time economy resumes we have the supports in place to work with them to highlight the wonderful artists, the DJs, the promoters, restaurants and bars, and ensure we do it in a way that is supported by communities.”

Ireland has some of the most restrictive laws around the sale of alcohol in Europe, with nightclubs forced to close at 2.30am.

Aoife Keane, a DJ from Wexford, said Dublin had the potential to become a “hot spot” for young tourists once opening hours are brought in line with other countries.

“I think if we have longer opening hours and give more recognition to Irish artists, there could be people coming to Dublin for the nightlife and to listen to our music, just like people go to Berlin for,” she said.

At present, pubs must close at 11.30pm from Monday to Thursday, 12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, and 11pm on Sundays. Nightclubs have to apply to the courts for special exemption orders to allow them to open as late as 2.30am most days and 1am on Sundays. Each court order can cost up to €400 per night on top of legal fees.

In Berlin, known as the nightlife capital of Europe, bars and clubs often stay open around the clock. Some nightclubs stay open all weekend, without closing.

Like almost all musicians and artists, Keane has been out of work for almost a year since venues were shut last March. “I haven’t had any work and the novelty of streaming online events is lost. We would have tried that at the start, but no one wants to hear that anymore,” she said.

Ian Redmond, owner of the Tramline venue in Dublin, said performers have been “left behind” during the pandemic. “It’s been so tough on them, they are really suffering. There has been support and recognition for small businesses, but sole traders have been left behind throughout this,” he said.

Redmond said that nightclubs would be the last industry to reopen and are likely to remain shut until herd immunity is reached.

“It could mean that in 18 months’ time we will have to scan IDs or phones that show evidence that people coming into clubs are Covid-free. That is the reality, but that is a while away,” he said.

“It’s been hard though — I miss hosting performances or having festivals to look forward to. Music is life for a lot of people and lots of people are suffering without that outlet. Just being able to dance in a club means a lot to people.”

He said the changes to licensing laws would be the “light at the end of the tunnel” for many venues. “We are delighted, especially after the year we have had. The department is really listening to us and understand all the issues with nightlife at the moment in Ireland.”

Sunil Sharpe, founder of a Give Us The Night, which campaigns for improved night-time culture, said the changes would “modernise” nightlife in Ireland and give artists more work.

“A lot of artists end up travelling abroad where there are more hours to play, but this could double the hours available to them and could double their working hours,” Sharpe said.

He hopes nightclubs will be allowed to run small trial events at the end of this year and begin a gradual reopening of the industry. “It could mean looking into antigen testing or even vaccine passports and trialling it on a small number of people. But any indoor events and plans probably won’t be happening in 2021 unless the vaccine programme is accelerated.”

Louis Scully, a DJ based in Dublin, said the possibility of outdoor events this summer would be exciting news for performers who have been out of work for the past year.

“Ireland has so much outdoor space and so much can be done with that. But we have to make sure that if outdoor gigs can happen, that there isn’t so much bureaucracy and paperwork. It needs to be accessible for big and smaller artists,” he said.

He added that many artists have had time to develop their music and skills during the pandemic, so he is looking forward to the industry reopening.

“We are all just trying not to go crazy, I think. And during all this a lot of artists now have time to really work on their music or to up-skill,” he said.

“But, I am not hopeful that we will reopen this year for indoor events at all. And we also just have to wait and see if the government actually follows through on this and makes those changes. Hopefully they actually deliver on the plan.”

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