Bar and nightclub owners have expressed their frustration with Government, as late-night opening hour legislation is further delayed.

Legislation to extend hours for nightclubs and bars has been pushed back – potentially until 2024.

The extension had been heralded as a way of boosting the declining nightlife scene in the country and was largely encouraged by campaigns such as Give Us The Night – an independent volunteer group of professionals operating within the night-time industry.

On The Hard Shoulder, spokesperson Sunil Sharpe said the group are "disappointed" by the delay, but had anticipated it.

"We knew that there was a delay, that the department wasn't really working on this at the rate that we thought it would need to be to get it through – certainly by the summer of this year," he said.

"We did originally expect that the reform could be in place by 2022.

"Really, there should have been something in place coming out of the pandemic even a couple of amendments which would have made a big difference for us."

Delays

In October 2022, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said she intended to bring a final Bill before the Oireachtas and enact the legislation in 2023.

"Early 2023 was the two-year space from when the original announcement around reform was made, which was six months after the setting up of the new Government and the Nighttime Economy Task Force," Mr Sharpe said.

"We're three years into the Nighttime Economy Initiative and we're still no more assured as to when this reform is going to come in.

"I would really like it if Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach, could stop speculating and just lead us into this reform as soon as he possibly can.

"Some of these comments just make it seem like this is completely out of his hands."

Legislation

Mr Sharpe said "incentivizing investment" into the nighttime industry should be part of the implementation of the legislation.

"We need to redefine what nightlife is, we need to build on all the good things that we have in nightlife, particularly with our thriving pub industry," he said.

"We did have a good nightlife in terms of the later hours as well, unfortunately, that's sort of fallen off in recent years.

"We've got lots of existing cultural infrastructure that could be put to greater use later into the evening and night as well."

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