Callout to nightclub and music industry staff

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release Tuesday December 16, 2008 16:01 by GUTN - Give Us The Night

We encourage people working within the industry to read this full news story, which tells you how you can make a difference to our campaign in the run up to the government's Sale of Alcohol Bill. Likewise you can download it from the link below as a one sheeter and photocopy as many times as you like to pass onto people that you think may be interested.

Hello,

We, Give Us The Night, are an independent lobby group, comprising of professionals working within the Irish nightclub industry, campaigning for the modernisation of the country's licensing laws with particular regard to nightclubs.

Despite our recent campaigning, which resulted in cross party political support towards our main proposals of sequential closing (between bars and nightclubs), extended times for nightclubs and the introduction of a specific nightclub permit, the Government still decided to rush through the Intoxicating Liquor Bill 2008, meaning that Sunday night trading hours for clubs have been effectively halved, while most other clubs in Dublin have had their times brought back to 2.30am closing through the revoking of theatre licences - a measure which means all patrons of late bars and nightclubs now hit the streets at the same time, which is proven a recipe for disaster.

If you are working within the nightclub industry, or close enough to it that your income or employment has been affected by the recent changes to the licensing laws, we urge you to contact Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Dermot Ahern, to voice your opinion and make suggestions for inclusion in the pending Sale of Alcohol Bill.

For instance:
• Have your wages been cut?
• Have you lost a shift at work, or worse still, your job?
• Are your business' profits down?
• Do restricted opening hours make it harder for your business/venue to make money?
• Has your club night had to finish? Did this affect your weekly income?
• Do restrictive licensing laws make it difficult for your business to gain added sponsorship or advertising?
• Would a more European approach to licensing in Ireland benefit you?

If you are emailing, we advise you to clearly mark it for the attention of the minister, whilst labeling the subject title "Submission re: Sale of Alcohol Bill". Likewise if you are posting it, it is equally important to do both of these things: address it to the minister and specify that it is your own personal submission regarding the upcoming Sale of Alcohol Bill. Minister Ahern’s address is 94 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2; his email is [email protected] .

We hope that you can spare a short bit of your time to make a submission, and thank you in advance for your help. For more information on our group, please visit www.giveusthenight.com or contact us through any of our contact details below should you have any questions.

Thanks,

Give Us The Night Team

Tel: 00353 85 7128165
Web: www.giveusthenight.com
Email: [email protected]