Donegal Nightclubs ordered to shut early !?!

donegalgirl28

I think these new laws are absolutely ridiculous!!! Losses will be made throughtout the whole of Letterkenny. Clubs/Chippers/B&Bs/Hotels/Taximen/(even the gypsies selling plastic light up flowers outside the clubs) will lose profits. Esp from the boarding counties such as Tyrone and Derry. Their laws allow them to stay open til half 1 don't they?? Well they wanna party on longer so they come to Letterkenny of course! Organizing buses bringing them to the place and back. Why would they come over now when it's closed at the same time as their local club? Now, I'm not saying they only come over for that, but it's generally the main reason why. They want to have a good time. And their money is being spent in our clubs/shops etc... It's gonna be a huge loss.

Not to mention the reputation that Letterkenny has as being a "well up for it, always have the craic" crowd in Ireland. So what if there's a few fights, you're always gonna see that! You see it at weddings sure, people have too much to drink, say/see/do stupid things and cause a ruckus. Are they gonna ban weddings then?

Me, having friends from all parts of Ireland, I always feel proud to bring them up to Letterkenny cos it's Letterkenny basically!!! They are always wanting to come up whenever they can, for no special occasion like. They are amazed to see the quality of the clubs there. I mean in what other town is there a choice of 7 nightclubs? 4 of which are extremely well decorated and has two rooms catering for 2 different types of music????!!! Also cheap entrance fees! It's a tenner to get into the Grill on Saturdays, a fiver on Sunday which IMO is the best night and the best club to go to. Voodoo charges 12?? Pulse is 12 too? Milan its a tenner, Orchard?? (never been to the club..) Saras is FREE! The Central?? And the bars who close up around 2am are all free too! You'd never get that in other towns.

Citizen_Erased wrote: »

Ythere is no reason why the bar in a club must stop serving at 1.30 but the club can remain open until the usual time .

EXACTLY! Instead of them drinking til they drop cos it's half 1 and then its kicking out time which leads to drunkeness messes and more fights cos people are all agitated cos theres not enough taxis, not getting served in the chippers, and everyone being drunk at the same time. Let them stop the bar at half 1, but let the people stay in til 3am or when the music finishes. I don't see why the club has to close just cos it's stopped serving. If you look at this way, the bar staff will actually be able to go home earlier cos they won't have to do much work behind the bar.

mike76 wrote: »

letterkenny is an absolute disgrace- by far the worst place/violence i have ever witnessed and there seems to be a state of denial in existence.

You what??? Have you been to Kilkenny mate???? I have been to Kilkenny dozens of times EVERYTIME I have seen a fight. EVERYTIME, and it's not the usual punch up where boys attempt to make the other bleed, it's kicking them, punching them, blood on the ground, and there are NO gardaí around. If you have ever been there and been to Supermacs afterwards, you will soon change your mind. Been out in the various clubs there, one club music stopped at 1am, bar still serving til half 1, club kicked out at 2am! WTF like? No gards were outside the club, nothing. I seen 2 fights that night. It's also IMPOSSIBLE to get a taxi unless you wait til 4am. At least in Letterkenny you can actually get a taxi and there is a taxi queue outside the clubs like.

deman wrote: »

If anything, it would've been a better idea to allow clubs to stay open later. Here in Finland, clubs normally close at 4 o'clock. But by that time, maybe half the people have left already to get taxis/busses etc. or just too bloody knackered.

Hear ****ing hear! Could not agree more. I was out in Dublin last Friday to Tripod, I thought it was kicking out time at 3am, so I had my last drink at 2.10 and proceeded to the dancefloor for the rest of the night, but nope, it closed at 4am. I was EXHAUSTED. Loads of people left early or else got their coats and stuck around but meant they would leave straight after the music was finished, no hanging around.

deman wrote: »

The Gardai just stood back and watched as they were powerless..

At least there is gaurds outside the clubs like. But they do tend to just watch and leave them at it. In fairness though, the majority of fights are 3 attempt punches and then their mates breaks it up. No point in getting the Gards involved in that situation, which would make it worse. You can tell the difference between a serious fight and a scrap anyways. The Gardaís do act on the serious ones. (except in that one you stated obviously)

salonfire

The Superintendent that objected to late night opening is representing nobody. He quoted from a Joint Policing Committee during the court cases only to be left with egg on his face when the JPC distanced itself from his decision.

As for late night noise, how is closing an hour early going to prevent this problem?

It was a stupid decision that nobody benefits from.

Why can't the judges penalise those people that cause trouble in the first place. How many times have you read someone get away with the Probation Act and a fine because "he had too much to drink on the night and was behaving uncharacteristically" Instead the judge punishes the majority and harms businesses in the process. It's time he toughened up to the thugs and stop laying the blame elsewhere

blue shimmering

salonfire wrote: »

The Superintendent that objected to late night opening is representing nobody. He quoted from a Joint Policing Committee during the court cases only to be left with egg on his face when the JPC distanced itself from his decision.

As for late night noise, how is closing an hour early going to prevent this problem?

It was a stupid decision that nobody benefits from.

Why can't the judges penalise those people that cause trouble in the first place. How many times have you read someone get away with the Probation Act and a fine because "he had too much to drink on the night and was behaving uncharacteristically" Instead the judge punishes the majority and harms businesses in the process. It's time he toughened up to the thugs and stop laying the blame elsewhere

Exactly my point, punish the people causing the problems not everyone - there are a lot of young people and not so young who go out to have a good time not to be involved in any fighting etc...They only get involved if they are picked on and have to defend themselves!

I was out last weekend and they do seem to have slackened off on the closing time in Donegal Town, I left at 2.30 and they were still serving, not going to say where because maybe it will stop then! They did have the shutters half way down ready to pull if needed!

I had a great Sunday night - yahoo!

Citizen_Erased

blue shimmering wrote: »

I had a great Sunday night - yahoo!

Great to hear it , don't let the bast**ds get you down

Out on Wednesday there in Letterkenny and once again we were ushered out at 2 o'clock with the bar having been shut at 1:30. For a Wednesday night the streets seemed kinda quiter though probably largerly more to do with people still being spent from Paddies night , it is difficult to speculate.

donegalman1

Was in Milan on Wed nite and Bar shut at 2 music til half past so no real difference to the night out.

The students are outta town for easter so it might have been slightly quieter but not that noticable.

Mint Sauce

not just an arguement for donegal clubs but maybe all, was also debated on todayfms last word, but the sugestion was to bring back the slow sets, could be used along with the closing of bars early as well, i think the arguement was that patrons were still hyped up and was using that hype as a form or agression when the club closed

along with the slow set and the bar closing early, people could chill out in the club, without getting any more drink for that half hour before going home,

another agruement, could possibly be stagger the closing, rather than all clubs closing at the same time, so that patrons are not all on the street at the same time

just some thoughts on it

The Real B-man

Glad my local Club closes at 3.30am

CherrySugarPlum

I think this new law is pointless, it doesnt seem to have changed anything except cause people to be standing outside the clubs and in the chippers for longer once they've been turfed out of the club at the new time.

I was out in Voodoo in Letterkenny on Wednesday night and the only difference i saw was that people were drinking more than usual at a faster pace becuase they knew the bar would be closing earlier. It just puts a dampner on nights out for people that dont cause trouble.

donegalgirl28

irish-stew wrote: »

not just an arguement for donegal clubs but maybe all, was also debated on todayfms last word, but the sugestion was to bring back the slow sets, could be used along with the closing of bars early as well, i think the arguement was that patrons were still hyped up and was using that hype as a form or agression when the club closed

along with the slow set and the bar closing early, people could chill out in the club, without getting any more drink for that half hour before going home,

another agruement, could possibly be stagger the closing, rather than all clubs closing at the same time, so that patrons are not all on the street at the same time

just some thoughts on it

Seems to me it's the GUTN campaign.

Give Us The Night's policy is staggered closing times and so on..

Their site...

www.giveusthenight.com explains all. I fully agree and urge you to get on the petition.

donegalman1

There is in a sense staggered closing, in the fact that pubs should be closed earlier. However this is not enforced in Letterkenny and a few on the main street serve well past their closing times. While I am not blaming them for disorder either, many empty from these at the same time as niteclubs.

Staggering niteclubs isn't really an option as it will give some a commerical advantage whilst putting others out of business.

Dance Licenses allow for the playing of music til 3am, regardless of the bar exemption. Perhaps if niteclubs were playing background music from say 2.30 to 3 then people could leave as they pleased without any forced rush.

The Superintendent did raise on radio chipshops but has not offered any ideas to the problems that occur here either.

The Alcohol Advisary Board is looking at offsales and this will change undoubtedly, but should there be a big rise in house parties then the gardai may have created more problems than they bargained for by reducing controlled clubs and pubs.

I am absolutley adamant that the punishment and treatment of repeat public order offenders does nothing to promote better behaviour. Look at the fall in drink driving due to enforcement and the punishments that are to be expected. As stated before, people get treated very leniently when public order is in court. If the Superintendent really wanted to make his mark and receive overwhelming support, he should seek proper punishment for the few rather than punishing everyone.

All he has done so far is succeeded in making Letterkenny seem very violent and I am quite sure that was not his intention.

lostexpectation

yeah don't stagger night clubs you stagger pubs then nightclubs

il gatto

Having some experience of the club industry, I see this as scapegoating of said industry as a blind for underresourced and inept policing. I remember a similar scheme in Galway about 9-10 years ago. The music stopped at 12.30 and the lights came up. The food was served (those were the days:)) and at 1.00, the light went down and the music came back on but the bar shut. It was a disaster and nearly ruined several venues (as well as loads of people's nights out).
The simple fact is that the only place revellers are policed properly is in the club. In a club of 1,000 capacity, you can realistically expect a minimum of 10-12 security as well as a CCTV system with 50-100 cameras. Allied to this, any serious assaults will result in the Guards being called and ambulances for injured parties.
I don't agree with what donegalman1 said about Sligo's policing policy. The reason figures may be lower in Sligo as regards this sort of behaviour is an absence of police on the streets. If they don't see it, it hasn't happened. Even if they have seen it, they still don't "see" it.
Blaming the clubs is pointless. People will drink elsewhere or go out earlier. If people head out at 9 o'clock instead of 10 o'clock, what difference will it achieve?
The most recent case of this nature in the Sligo papers was last month. A fight had taken place on Market street. The guy who started it was bound to the peace, as was the guy he attacked. The victim was also fined €300 as he came off better in the fight. Anyway, the judge proceded to lambast a local nightclub because one of the people involved had been there for one drink before the fight. The other guys went to the club after the doors shut and went away. The other guy came out and left also. They met halfway across town and started fighting. Somehow this was the clubs fault Furthermore, the judge then made oblique threats aginst the clubs licence.
Surely this scenario would call the lack of a Garda presence into question rather than what time a club closes at. If you cannot stop people drinking, they must be policed properly. Making it awkward by tinkering with opening hours is not a solution.

donegalman1

It appears that the Grills recent raid also is part of this debate and whilst there are many things the Joint policing Authority have had under discussion, there appears a definate Garda policy locally to target certain niteclubs over all the policing matters locally.

One would have thought the compromise of 2am bar closing was a start, it now appears there is a concerted effort on behalf of Letterkenny Gardai to destroy the nitelife of the town or certainly parts of it.

I look forward to seeing whether their intentions are genuine and therefore pubs will all have entertainment stopped at 12.30 on Fridays and Saturdays and all licensing hours are observed across the boards.

The Gardai got a rap across the hand in the morris tribuneral and I have no doubt they have learned the lesson that the law of the land applies to everyone and must be applied evenly.

I for one don't pay tax to pay local Gardai have an ala carte attitude to what they should do with law in Letterkenny and have issue with them targeting one or other section of local problems.

il gatto

I know the local fire officer to see in Sligo, and saw him with notepads and cameras (video and stills) on several different nights in a particular new club. I've never seen him do that elsewhere, ever. It seems there's an uneven distribution of bureaucracy in Ireland. I know of many pubs that serve away until 3-4 o'clock and everyone knows it. Seems it's still who you know in this country.