Music industry protests over drink proposals
Wednesday, 2 July 2008 22:18
Hundreds of people have been taking part in a demonstration outside the Dáil to call for the retention of late opening hours for nightclubs.

Under the proposals, premises with theatre licences which allow them to stay open until 3.30am would only be allowed open until 2.30am.

The protestors, who set up a DJ box in front of Leinster House, want Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to introduce a new nightclub permit to replace it.

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They argue that staggered opening hours is the best way to tackle public order problems.

Spokesman for the Give Us The Night campaign Sunil Sharpe said nightclubs should be viewed as a form of entertainment, and the issue of alcohol was very low on protestor's priorities.

PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION
DAIL EIREANN
WEDS 2ND JULY : 1pm

Give Us The Night Public Demonstration Tomorrow (2/7/0 at Dail Eireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2.

Give Us The Night (an independent lobby group made up of DJs, promoters and other professionals working within the Irish music industry) are staging a public demonstration outside Dail Eireann, this coming Wednesday, July 2nd, from 1-2pm. It follows the presentation of the Government's Intoxicating Liquor Bill to The Dail, which recommends that all nightclubs return to the system of applying for monthly special exemption orders, which would see all nightclubs closed at 2.30am, as well as having to close at 1am on Sundays.

It is well known to many, that the system of 3.30am closing in Dublin (as it currently stands for nightclubs using theatre licences) has been contributing to sequential closing between late bars and nightclubs, thus having a positive effect on the streets at night, leading to less public disorder and making public transport easier to come by for patrons.

Give Us The Night accepts that theatre licences will not, in the future, facilitate late opening for nightclubs, however we seek the introduction of an equivalent licence for nightclubs only, which would come in the form of a specific nightclub permit.

The demonstration takes place at 1pm outside Dail Eireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. We advise you to converge close the gates, without obstructing the flow of people leaving or entering the grounds of the main buildings. If numbers are such that you need to move slightly from your position to avoid overcrowding, either a member of An Garda Siochana or Give Us The Night will advise you where to move to. It should be noted that signs or placards cannot be tied to the front railings of the gates.

We encourage promoters or those carrying their own signs or placards to arrive slightly earlier, where they can make contact with a member of the Give Us The Night Team standing outside Buswell's Hotel on the corner of Molesworth Street, straight across the road from The Dail. Messages or slogans of protest can include the likes of "Don't Kill Our Industry", "Save Our Sundays", "Don't Destroy Ireland's Nightlife", "Respect The Nightclub Industry", "Don't Kill Our Jobs", "Save Ireland's Nightlife", "Sequential Closing For All Of Ireland" etc. Witty messages or slogans of your own are of course welcomed, once they are on topic and don't contain any bad words!

Everyone is welcome along; however we can't stress strongly enough how important it is to co-operate with Gardai on the day, to make this a peaceful, incident free protest. Anyone who makes a nuisance of themselves to the Gardai or who causes difficulties to this demonstration, for whatever reason, will be asked to leave immediately. This is of course a worst case scenario and one we do not anticipate; judging by the widespread support and encouragement we have been receiving since we announced the demonstration last week, we expect this protest to be a successful event attended by people from across the country that genuinely care about the matters at hand.

A selection of music will be played throughout the hour by some of the Dublin's most well known DJs, with a number of speakers also scheduled to appear.

Please feel free to pass this mail onto whoever you think may be interested.

Hope to see you there,

Give Us The Night Team

Hello there,

With the Government still ignoring the plight of Irish nightclubs, as they rush through legislation regarding the opening hours of clubs, we have decided that we have no option but to
stage a public demonstration outside The Dail next Wednesday, July 2nd at 1pm. You are invited to come along to show your support.

This is a peaceful protest, designed to create more media and political awareness to the current situation, which is now threatening many jobs in the industry, not to mention the enjoyment of patrons
all around the country.

We encourage those working within the industry particularly, to make up your own signs or placards displaying messages of protest. In the case of this demonstration our main types of slogans should
refer to the threat of jobs and the 1am curfew that will be placed on late night venues on Sundays. Examples could be "Don't Kill Our Industry", "Save Our Jobs", "Don't Destroy Our Industry", "Save
Our Sundays", "Save Ireland's Nightlife" etc.

For now we encourage you to contact your local TD and urge them to speak up in The Dail while this current alchol bill is still up for discussion. To those who have already done so, we’d like to thank
you very much.

More information on this demonstration will follow early next week.

Thanks,

Give Us The Night Team