Anti-social behavior at closing time

usersame

Came back to cork for the weekend, first time home in about 6 months, couldn't get over the amount of scraps I saw Friday and Saturday night. Came out of the crane and saw two half respectable lads in their twenties flaking the life out of each other, don't know how it started etc. Then on Friday walking out of the pav at about 2am about 15 lads and girls in tracksuits laying into each other. Literally 5 minutes later as we were walking out past the courthouse there was a very brutal fight between a group of lads which finished with a one man get his head stamped on. No Gardaí to be seen.

Closing the pubs/clubs at 2am is lunacy, having later closing times really would help I think and if the cops could do a bit more preemptive policing and move people along instead of allowing bottle necks of trouble to form outside certain ares.

Great weekend aside from this petty thuggery.

SpaceTime

Well, the local powers that be seem to think that the solution is to keep making the closing times earlier and earlier.

If they just let pubs / venues close when they wanted to it would avoid dumping thousands of people onto the streets at the height of their drunkness and often in bad form.

The whole problem is the mass exodus due to the licensing hours and I don't understand why our governments have been so backwards about it.

The other aspect of it is that our crazy hours are also limiting tourism potential and the development of a serious club scene.

Instead we've got mayhem on the streets every busy night in most of our towns and cities.

If you were seriously into clubs, you'd be off your head to go to Dublin, Cork or Galway for a weekend. You'd be off to London, Manchester, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona or anywhere else you could think of.

It's like the powers that be just frown on night life and think it needs to be reigned in.

usersame

SpaceTime wrote: »

Well, the local powers that be seem to think that the solution is to keep making the closing times earlier and earlier.

If they just let pubs / venues close when they wanted to it would avoid dumping thousands of people onto the streets at the height of their drunkness and often in bad form.

The whole problem is the mass exodus due to the licensing hours and I don't understand why our governments have been so backwards about it.

The other aspect of it is that our crazy hours are also limiting tourism potential and the development of a serious club scene.

Instead we've got mayhem on the streets every busy night in most of our towns and cities.

If you were seriously into clubs, you'd be off your head to go to Dublin, Cork or Galway for a weekend. You'd be off to London, Manchester, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona or anywhere else you could think of.

It's like the powers that be just frown on night life and think it needs to be reigned in.

totally agree, however clubs in Dublin close at about 4am and some stay open until 6am! Limerick from my experience there is about 2.30am, Galway I think goes a little bit later too. It's infuriating to see the state of Cork at 2am

SpaceTime

Yeah, it's completely destroying Cork's potential as a decent 'weekend destination' for tourism (local and international) and it's also making the city centre look unnecessarily rough because of the drunk yobs spilling out at the same time.

Is it the city council or who is setting these closing hours?

Why are they different in Dublin and Cork?

mikeym

SpaceTime wrote: »

Yeah, it's completely destroying Cork's potential as a decent 'weekend destination' for tourism (local and international) and it's also making the city centre look unnecessarily rough because of the drunk yobs spilling out at the same time.

Is it the city council or who is setting these closing hours?

Why are they different in Dublin and Cork?

Its up to the district court.

SpaceTime

That seems a bit daft. It should be up to an elected council of some sort, not to an unelected judge.

gifted

SpaceTime wrote: »

Well, the local powers that be seem to think that the solution is to keep making the closing times earlier and earlier.

If they just let pubs / venues close when they wanted to it would avoid dumping thousands of people onto the streets at the height of their drunkness and often in bad form.

The whole problem is the mass exodus due to the licensing hours and I don't understand why our governments have been so backwards about it.

The other aspect of it is that our crazy hours are also limiting tourism potential and the development of a serious club scene.

Instead we've got mayhem on the streets every busy night in most of our towns and cities.

If you were seriously into clubs, you'd be off your head to go to Dublin, Cork or Galway for a weekend. You'd be off to London, Manchester, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona or anywhere else you could think of.

It's like the powers that be just frown on night life and think it needs to be reigned in.

Because none of these places have trouble either?...

butbut

gifted wrote: »

Because none of these places have trouble either?...

Of course they have trouble, but to be fair it is only ever a minority of individuals that come out of a venue and engage in anti social behaviour, however when every venue closes at the same time that still amounts to all trouble makers on the street at the same time making it a lot harder to police.

sensormatic

Came back to cork for the weekend, first time home in about 6 months, couldn't get over the amount of scraps I saw Friday and Saturday night.

where have you been for the last 20 years,,this happens every weekend it would not be a good weekend with it ffs

Flesh Gorden

It was freshers week last week which always brings a big influx of 18yr olds unable to handle themselves,
A lot of whom may never have been out in a city before.

At least this year the Guinness thing didn't clash with freshers week; last year was mentality.

Milly33

This is why we gave up heading into town it is so rough. I don't want to see that crap after coming out of a pub. It had defiantly got worse over the last few years. I don't think closing the pubs later or earlier would do any good think tis just the people. No one respects anything anymore...Guards don't seem to be able to or do much about it, I do appreciate them but whats the point in standing there being an onlooker

GavRedKing

The main problem is the blanket 2am and your out, it forces thousands onto the streets and into cab bases, fast food outlets and will lead to patches of violence all over.

If we took a leaf out of Dublins books it would be better, clubs/bar could adjust their closing times accordingly too depending on how many peoepl go through the doors.

It wont be changed though, not anytime soon at least.

ofcork

The nightclubs should have later closing times than the bars which get their licence to stay open as a public dancing licence even though there would be no specific area for dancing I believe,in saying that was in town sat night and didn't see any aggro.

lisasimpson

was in town both nights didn't notice much Friday night but Saturday wasn't nice in town at all. it didn't seem the usual crowd at all, walking from south mall to grand parade was full of v young people hammered kindof reminded me of a paddys day. Ive never experienced town that young before, it put us all off of going anywhere after the pub. there wasn't a nice vibe in there at all even at midnight the ambulances and garda cars seemed v busy a there seemed to be a lot of them around.we were wondering was there something on

Faith

lisasimpson wrote: »

was in town both nights didn't notice much Friday night but Saturday wasn't nice in town at all. it didn't seem the usual crowd at all, walking from south mall to grand parade was full of v young people hammered kindof reminded me of a paddys day. Ive never experienced town that young before, it put us all off of going anywhere after the pub. there wasn't a nice vibe in there at all even at midnight the ambulances and garda cars seemed v busy a there seemed to be a lot of them around.we were wondering was there something on

Fresher's week.

nuts86

Freshers week finished on Thursday

minidazzler

Milly33 wrote: »

This is why we gave up heading into town it is so rough. I don't want to see that crap after coming out of a pub. It had defiantly got worse over the last few years. I don't think closing the pubs later or earlier would do any good think tis just the people. No one respects anything anymore...Guards don't seem to be able to or do much about it, I do appreciate them but whats the point in standing there being an onlooker

It's not gotten worse in the last few years. It's actually gotten better. But as you get older you pay more attention because you're likely not as sh1tfaced.

And having pubs close at different times would definitely make a huge difference. Any city that operates on a tiered closure system has less hassle and is easier to poilice at night. You close 20 bars at one time and you have X thousand people on the streets at once. You close 2-3 bars at a time and allow some to stay open as long as they wish then you get less people on the streets at the same time, all looking for competing for the same cabs and food.

wallycharlo

minidazzler wrote: »

It's not gotten worse in the last few years. It's actually gotten better...

I'm also wondering about that. It's the best part of 20 years since I lived in Cork, but I recall seeing plenty of scraps around town at weekends. So not sure if it's anything new really?

Milly33

Jes I don't know.. I wasn't too mad on the old booze or on nights out when I was younger and I didn't notice as many fights or just general roughness around the place. people seem to have got a lot unfriendlier. Even went in Shopping to town two days in a row recently and thought Christ does anyone smile or say hello anymore..

wallycharlo

It's been a while since I lived there as I said, but you would be practically guaranteed to see a scrap around the fountain / chipper areas on Grand Parade on most weekend nights.

I would tend to agree though that the general level of unfriendliness is on the up though.

mathepac

GavRedKing wrote: »

The main problem is the blanket 2am and your out, it forces thousands onto the streets and into cab bases, fast food outlets and will lead to patches of violence all over. ...

Rubbish. Complete and utter tosh. The problem is public drunkenness and the yob culture that naturally follows. The solution? There are many, including enforcing existing laws.

gimmick

mathepac wrote: »

Rubbish. Complete and utter tosh. The problem is public drunkenness and the yob culture that naturally follows. The solution? There are many, including enforcing existing laws.

It is neither rubbish nor tosh.

Push that many people out together causes flash points. If people were drifting out onto the streets at their own pace, there would be less hassle on the street after as there would be less queues and therefore less scope to skip queues etc.

Obviously it is not the perfect solution, but it would help.

gobnaitolunacy

I find weekday nights and Friday nights to be fine, Sat nights, the place turns into Scumbag Central.

I get out just before they start herding folks to the door, grab a quick bite before places get mobbed and get the fcuk out of the place.
Idiots are gonna idiot.

who_me

You want to get to the real epicentre of the early-morning-fights, go to a fast food joint at 2-3am. Hillbillys on the Grand Parade can be carnage some times, was in Hoggy's one night and two girls tried to smash a bin over some guys head.

I'm not certain that later opening hours would fix it all, people would just likely adjust their hours and you'd have everyone drunk, later. "24 hour" opening hours might, but they wouldn't be economically viable here anyway.

Certainly the nights with younger crowds out (I was one, once...) tend to be a lot messier.

mathepac

gimmick wrote: »

It is neither rubbish nor tosh.

Push that many people out together causes flash points. If people were drifting out onto the streets at their own pace, there would be less hassle on the street after as there would be less queues and therefore less scope to skip queues etc.

Obviously it is not the perfect solution, but it would help.

It is both rubbish and tosh to deny that the single greatest cause of the problems on the streets at week-ends, at taxi-ranks, take-aways, in licensed premises and in hospital A&Es is drunkenness. The majority of the drunken, violent and abusive idiots who piss, puke, fall and fight their way home at the week-ends see this as their God-given right, their entitlement as citizens of the State. They display nothing but contempt for themselves and for those of us who choose not to share their sorry state.

gimmick

Ok. Rubbish and tosh it is.

Good day.

minidazzler

mathepac wrote: »

It is both rubbish and tosh to deny that the single greatest cause of the problems on the streets at week-ends, at taxi-ranks, take-aways, in licensed premises and in hospital A&Es is drunkenness. The majority of the drunken, violent and abusive idiots who piss, puke, fall and fight their way home at the week-ends see this as their God-given right, their entitlement as citizens of the State. They display nothing but contempt for themselves and for those of us who choose not to share their sorry state.

You're still wrong thinking just drunkeness is the cause. The cause is putting thousands of drunken people in competition for the same stuff. You are simply wrong.

I've seen some of the most fun and amazing things at closing time as well as some pretty sh1t things. Just last week, I was finished work and going to Fast Als, saw a group of 200+ people outside Vodafone on Winthrop street all having a sing song.

The world, especially the first world isn't actually getting more violent as people seem to be wanting. It's getting less violent, you're just looking through rose tinted glasses.

And just because you don't drink doesn't mean you've some great insight into the root cause. Get over yourself mat.

mathepac

minidazzler wrote: »

You're still wrong .... You are simply wrong.
...
you're just looking through rose tinted glasses.

And just because you don't drink doesn't mean you've some great insight into the root cause. Get over yourself mat.

When you've finished making personal comments about me, do you have anything insightful to add to the thread topic? The way these threads work is that posters offer comments on the thread topic, not on other posters.

the beer revolu

Well Mat, you are right that closing time isn't the root cause of anti social behavior but neither is drunkenness. It is, in fact, people that are the cause - anti social people. Anti social people who choose to drink to excess and engage in an anti social activities are the root cause.
However, knowing this does little to help the situation.

So, we have a society where people choose to drink to excess. Short of banning alcohol (which historically has proved counter productive) we need to manage the situation. To say that our current licencing laws regarding closing time don't clearly exacerbate the situation is just wrong - tosh, if you will.
It is such a no-brainer I'm amazed that we are still even discussing it.

mathepac

the beer revolu wrote: »

... you are right that closing time isn't the root cause of anti social behavior but neither is drunkenness. ...

So you contend that if all those people were in bars and nightclubs drinking water, tea, coffee or orange juice all night, the same behaviours would follow as if they were released blind drunk onto the streets? All the puking, pissing, fighting, assaults, hospital admissions, arrests, etc would happen. I'd like to see a modicum, a smidgen, even an iota of evidence in support of your view.

SeaDaily

usersame wrote: »

totally agree, however clubs in Dublin close at about 4am and some stay open until 6am!

Well thats not true.