Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I second the motion.

I also commend my colleague, Senator Warfield, who has been a passionate advocate for the give us the night scheme and the night-time economy. He is right that Dublin is lacking so much. I know this not just about Dublin tonight, but as a proud Dub, I find it very sad to see the direction that Dublin is going in at the moment with, for example, art spaces closing down, murals being painted over and the lack of respect for the Moore Street area.

However, as tonight is about the night-time economy, I will focus on some of the points that were made at the briefing today by the representatives of Give Us The Night, namely, Sunil Sharpe and Robbie Kitt. They spoke passionately about the Doomsday scenario that is before unless radical action is taken. We are already on course for a wipe out of the cultural spaces. As was highlighted, there were 522 nightclubs in 2000 and only 85 remain. The market circumstances mean that only the most profitable nightclubs can survive. That is not a diverse and healthy night scene. It means an increasingly greater concentration of night venues in bigger, more central locations and the decline of smaller venues in the periphery.

I am from Tallaght and I remember the numerous night clubs that we had, such as The Spawell, Club Sarah and Coco’s, apparently where the gang goes. However, today, even with a population of 80,000 people, it does not have a single club. That is just madness that a place the size of Tallaght does not have a club. When we ask why on the top of the list of reasons is the failure to reform the licensing laws by successive governments from the late 1990s to today. As the economist, Dr. Constantin Gurdgiev, stated clearly, in his economic assessment of the Irish nightclub industry from 2009, that the nightclub industry sells approximately 5% of all alcohol retailed in Ireland by value, less by volume, yet it shoulders almost 70% of the total annual licensing costs levied at the on and off-trade combined. His statement came directly after the increase in the price of special exemption orders, SEOs. I think we will agree that special exemption order system is an embarrassment and a good example of how little the State has respected the industry and the hardworking venues that are trying to keep their doors open. It is €410 per night plus legal fees for any venue, regardless of the size. That price was fixed back in 2008 by Fianna Fáil and has been continued by Fine Gael.

No other night businesses have to make monthly court appearances to obtain SEOs. I cannot fathom any rationalisation for making operators go through the process every single month. Also, forcing operators to nominate what days they will be open a month in advance is also absurd. As Robbie Kitt from Give Us The Night pointed out at the briefing earlier, there is not a provision to roll over or change the date in the case where the event must be postponed, even for community groups or DIY events.

The other problem we see forcing the closure of cultural spaces in the capital is the encroachment of the soulless hotels. We saw it with the Cobblestone pub and we are seeing it again at Fibber Magees, Murray’s and The Living Room. This is a development that must be resisted. It was great to see so many people take to the streets on the back of the Cobblestone to protest against its closure. The hotel issues are also linked to the transport issues because we need 24-hour services for the cities. That is absolutely a given. However, the last train to Waterford on a Saturday night is at 6.35 p.m. The last train to Galway is 7.35 p.m. If anybody wants to go to a gig in Dublin, they have no choice but to stay here or else drive home.

The outlook for nightlife can often be bleak. However, other cities have found themselves in this situation before and with the right leadership have been able to turn the ship around. Give Us The Night has gotten us this far, but, as Senator Warfield said, we have to stop telling people to wait. We have to start enacting. We have to save Dublin from becoming the soulless city that it rapidly is becoming.