September is always an exciting month in the college calendar. As everyone floods back into Dublin after the long summer break, the city gets a little bit brighter. For most students it is the first time they get to see their friends again and it’s felt in the atmosphere around college. Alongside this is a wave of new students, fresh out of secondary school, brand new to college life and potentially away from home for the first time. What does this combination produce? A lot of partying and drinking. This is specifically facilitated by ‘freshers week’, a week of events designed for new students to start socialising, making friends and learning the ins and outs of the city. Even for those who are not in first year, the sheer amount of events put on by various societies means it makes for an interesting week regardless of what year you are in. Unfortunately, a looming problem over Freshers’ Week this year, and college social life in general, is the continuing closure of Dublin’s nightclubs.

Over the past few years it has become the norm to see late-night venues closing, and with these closures no new venues opening in their place. The most common reason cited for their termination is the cost of running the business. Multiple nightclubs, most recently Tramline, have stated that it has become overwhelming and unprofitable for the business owners simply trying to keep doors open. 

The closure of nightclubs has been well documented in the Irish media. A terrifying statistic routinely circulated is that Ireland went from having 544 nightclubs countrywide in 2008 to just 84 in 2013. The pandemic and rising costs have undoubtedly wrought another drop since then. 

College students, and young adults in general, want to go out and party. The primary function of an eighteen year old is largely assumed to be to go out and have a good time. But it seems there is routinely nowhere for them to go. This results in a fairly substandard socialising experience at an age where it is truly vital. Not to mention, it highlights the decline of an industry in Ireland that employs thousands of people. Is it possible to reignite Dublin’s nightlife?

To begin solving any problem, you have to understand why the problem exists in the first place. So why are so many nightclubs closing? The concise answer: it is just too expensive.

Licensing laws around nightclubs are complicated. There is no specific licensing for a nightclub, instead owners must have a bar or hotel licence and then obtain separate licences to allow them to stay open past midnight. This makes the process more difficult. Finding a pub or bar licence is a challenge when no new bar licences are being granted by the government. Alongside this, in order for late night venues to stay open until 2:30am there is a fee of €410 per night. This means that if a venue wanted to stay open till 2:30am every night of the week they would have to pay €128,000 a month on top of rent and other costs. 

Finally, the cost of living crisis is obviously affecting nightclub owners as it is everyone else. The price of alcohol has risen dramatically in the last few years, with another large price increase on the way soon. Not only does this put pressure on businesses, it reduces consumers’ incentive to go out in order to drink and socialise.

If money is the primary reason why nightclubs are closing, which it seems to be, what are the proposed solutions? They are rudimentary at best. The government plans to bring in new licensing laws which will allow nightclubs to stay open until 6am. Pub opening hours will also have the opportunity to be extended. The logic behind the decision appears to be that if nightclubs are open for longer they can bring in more revenue. Aside from these measures, there is nothing else currently being proposed to help restore Dublin’s nightlife.

It does not take much to observe that this is a lacklustre plan. It simply does not  target the primary issues that nightclubs and late venues are facing. Having clubs stay open until 6am won’t alleviate the costs of running the business overall and it is unclear whether there will be further fees imposed on late-venues with the 6am closing time. Nightclub owners have expressed concern that late closing will not encourage people to spend more when in late venues. Especially considering the proposed increase in pub opening hour. Late venues are closing because the cost of running them is extortionate – having the option to stay open longer is an unhelpful attempt at a solution.

There have been other possible fixes proposed. Volunteer group “Give Us The Night” was formed between 2018 and 2019 and have proposed multiple mandates of their solutions to helping Dublin’s nightlife. Their proposal states that the government should create separate licensing laws that focus directly on nightclubs and late night music venues. They further suggest abolishing high costs for venues that wish to stay open later. These seem like reasonable solutions, but there is still a question of how far they will go in helping night clubs stay open.

Throughout this whole discussion, it should be considered whether the demand for nightlife is really there. In an interview for the Independent, a nightclub promoter expressed their concern for an extension of pub opening hours. They argue that this would cause people to either not go to a late night venue at all, or spend significantly less time there. Within this is a question about the purpose of the nightclub in general. While nightclubs are held up as a staple of nightlife, especially for freshers, it seems to be a place where people socialise the least. There are three primary activities in a nightclub: dancing, drinking and the possibility of finding someone to go home with. The traditional nightclub does not promote much talking. It can be seen as the place to go when the pub closes, the only way to continue the night without going home. 

Despite this, I feel that the value of a nightclub lies partly in the surprise and mystery surrounding them. The best and most popular nightclubs in the world, such as Berghain in Berlin, are places where intrigue is created due to the possibility of what could happen inside. These spaces are areas of self-expression which allow people to have wild or hilarious nights in a way that the pub or a bar cannot replicate. The nightlife scene in Dublin is so unfortunately poor that it seems most people have simply forgotten the diversity and excitement of a good club scene. It is not clubbing culture that is failing us, but the lack of options.

Freshers week and college life will undoubtedly continue on despite a lack of exciting nightlife. However, it is still a shame to know what could be if a proper plan was implemented to help revive the nightlife scene. Nothing will change until major revisions are put in place to alleviate the extortionate costs of running nightclubs and  late night venues. One cannot help but feel sad that the college experience is missing a core part, but hopefully one day it will slowly start to build its way back up.