Hundreds turn out to protest Dublin hotel's nightclub court action
Hundreds of people protested outside Dublin’s Hoxton Hotel last night after the venture launched a High Court injunction against a nearby nightclub last week due to noise concerns, writes Jamie McCarron.
The Trinity Hospitality-owned hotel has faced criticism after its legal action against Yamamori Izakaya, a restaurant and nightclub on the South Great George’s Street site for more than three decades.
The Hoxton opened last November on the former site of the Central Hotel, claiming recently it cannot regularly use 31 of its 129 rooms due to sound from Yamamori Izakaya next door.
Last night, around 300 people gathered at Dame Court next to the hotel to make their voices heard, with many protesters saying the injunction was another symptom of the decline in the capital’s nightlife.
Anne O’Sullivan, 25, said: “We’re looking at losing another very important venue on George’s Street and a big corporation is telling us, ‘No, be quiet’.
“People can’t even afford houses – we need to be able to dance at least.”
One woman criticised the hotel for “coming into a hipster cool area and trying to shut down the very thing bringing in their money”, adding the loud protest, which included DJ sets, was a sign of “culture that’s going to be lost if we don’t protect these spaces”.
UCD programme director Dr Lollie Mansey said: “We are going to end up with too many hotels and no amenities.
“The extension of nightclub hours we were promised hasn’t happened. Even though it doesn’t affect me as I don’t go out that late, places like Yamamori are something we need to defend.
“That’s our right to congregate and socialise together and to have more things for the younger population.”
A petition to protect Yamamori Izakaya as a cultural venue received over 6,000 signatures in three days.
Izakaya in 2024 as new hotel was built around it
Trinity Hospitality denied trying to close down the venue.
A spokeswoman said it had noise complaints from rooms on four floors and claimed “regular late-night DJ events started in the ground-floor restaurant five days per week”, was increasing low-frequency noise transfer.
Photo: Róisín O’Sullivan, 21, left, and Anne O’Sullivan, 25, at last night’s protest
