Nightclubs like Dublin's famous Copper Face Jacks could be 'the last of a dying breed.'

'Maniac 2000' DJ Mark McCabe said spaces need to do more to entice people in than just playing songs they can hear on the radio.

Yesterday Justice Minister Helen McEntee revealed that Ireland only has "about 70 nightclubs left in the country".

McCabe told Lunchtime Live plans to reform licencing laws have stalled.

"The groups that are looking for the licencing laws to be amended are more about events, and more about people going out who actually want to see a DJ and stay out later," he said.

"It's not necessarily about wanting to go out to somewhere like Coppers and stay there until 6am or 7am drinking - they're two totally separate things.

"There's definitely been a clear-out of the clubs in this country since COVID.

"Obviously COVID had a massive effect on the entertainment industry as a whole."

People dancing at Tramline, Dublin, 25-01-2022. Image: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews

Put to him that Dublin's Copper Face Jacks could be the most recognisable nightclub in Ireland, McCabe said: "I think it might be the last of that dying breed".

He said the experience of going out to a nightclub "to hear hits that you would hear every day on the radio, I think that's kind of gone.

"It's more about creative spaces... treating people better, bigger names and just more about a focus on the music rather than the drinking side of it".

'Elephant in the room'

McCabe said it really comes down to insurance and investment.

"Probably the biggest impact on the nightclub sector has probably been insurance, because they have just been hammered by insurance companies in terms of small claims or things like that," he said.

"I have been in clubs where they have 120 CCTV cameras because it's got to the point where every week there was some kind of claim coming through."

A laser show in a nightclub. Image: imageBROKER / Alamy Stock Photo

McCabe said one other important factor needs to be addressed.

"The elephant in the room is the fact that a lot of the clubs just weren't reinvesting the space that they had," he said.

"You walk in and your feet would stick to the floor, it was old carpet had been there 20 and 30 years.

"The sound systems were outdated and broken and bad for people's hearing, the lighting wasn't great."

He said this type of experience was probably more prevalent in smaller, rural towns and that young people are looking for more of an 'experience'.

"If you've got a DJ who's more or less just a juke box, that's nothing special anymore," he said.

"Anybody can DJ, off your phone you can DJ - so these places need to be creating more inventive spaces," he added.

Licencing law changes include proposals to extend opening hours for pubs and nightclubs and make it easier to apply for a licence.

Main image: A sign for Copper Face Jacks in Dublin city, 14-3-20. Image: Sam Boal/Rollingnews.ie