Dublin Digital Radio started in 2016 after a visit to the Cork experimental music festival Open Ear. The co-founder Brian McNamara was blown away by what was going on in the community and the sheer amount of quality.

It initially operated out of a tiny office at the offices of since-closed publication Rabble. Running on weekends only to begin with, it quickly expanded its audience and grew rapidly. It grew to the point where they were able to host parties and host resident DJs. Almost like a record shop, it soon became a hub for the local community.

One of its most impressive achievements is the wide-ranging cross-section of different independent genres it supports. These days it’s a veritable who’s who of Irish artists pushing the boundaries within their respective areas. Their support for underground experimentalism definitely isn’t mirrored within the mainstream Irish arts scene, which prefers to support more traditional forms of homegrown music.

The lack of support for underground music in mainstream Irish media is evident in public arts funding decisions. The funding that has been awarded is never really enough. This has led to many artists moving abroad to work within a more supportive environment.

DDR serves to remind Irish musicians that they are appreciated.

Alternating Current was a festival that was organised to demonstrate this and inspire others to participate. It hopes to encourage artists to stay in Ireland rather than leaving for places like London or Berlin.

DDR has also provided its residents and the wider community with a physical presence before and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It has given artists the chance to carry on performing for an audience in a time when traditional gigs have been non existent.

Live-streamed DJ sets and live performances have become a common phenomenon of the pandemic

Resident spots on the radio have still been popular amongst the artists and audiences alike. Artists like HUSH have taken the opportunity to explore darker elements of percussive club music. These shows often have a guest DJ.

Another artist Doubt has progressed from just submitting pre-recorded mixes to streaming live shows from his home. Through doing this he is able to get feedback from people within the chatroom forum.

The station has gone from strength to strength over the last year and increased the audience by almost 400%. With a lot of people having more free time or working from home, they have been able to attract a lot more daytime listeners.

The future looks good for the station. As DDR grows so do the relationships with communities both in Ireland and abroad. Some of the DJs have also been able to play on other stations in countries such as Turkey, France or Palestine.

DDR’s organisational structure works without commercial or public funding. Funded by its Patreon members and the ticket sales of club-nights and events. Whilst the lack of greater funding will always prove tough, DDR benefits from being fully independent. This allows the station to push boundaries.

Since DDR don´t have have sponsors they are free to throw their weight behind issues like abortion access, asylum seekers’ rights, and LGBTQ+ equality without fear of losing them.

The station has worked with people with intellectual disabilities who traditionally find it hard to work in a medium such as radio. DDR started a show for people with intellectual disabilities as presenters to do shows that represent their lives. This is something that would be very unlikely to be found on mainstream Irish media.

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As well as efforts of the music industry, the public and concerned councillors have protested and campaigned; these efforts have been ignored until now.

This attitude can be traced back to the 1935 Public ballroom Act. Anti-jazz campaigners at the time successfully mobilised to regulate dance floors everywhere. After this date those wanting to host a dance in an Irish venue would require a license. These licenses were issued with permission from the police force and court.

To this day, whether or not a venue owner holds a license they must apply to the District Court. This takes the form of a Special Exemption Order (SEO) to host a late-night event. This costs the venue €410 per month. All it really gives is an extra three hours midweek and two hours at weekends.

The Gardaí, since the mid 00s, didn’t have the right resources to police the streets. As a result, nightclubs were made a simple target by the press linking dance music to crime and social disorder. Venues were under pressure to prevent hosting electronic music events.

Petitions were signed by over 20,000 people against the Gardaí’s efforts leading to efforts to protect the scene..

This early campaign managed to improve the situation and even led to talk of a modernisation of licensing laws. Unfortunately the centre-right party Fianna Fáil saw this as a threat to the pub lobby, and quashed it.

In 2008, the government. introduced The Intoxicating Liquor Act. This led to venues becoming tied to the pub system, which required a 7 days publican license and a dance license. As a result, fees doubled and Sunday closing times were cut to 1am (from 2.30am).

Between 2007 and 2013 the number of dance licenses in Ireland fell from 1,635 to 930. There are estimated to be around just 100 nightclubs operating in Ireland today.

Many venue owners today say the prices of SEOs and insurance are hampering their ability to maintain a business. However, in order for a venue to achieve this it would have to turnover more than €1 million per annum.

The future of clubbing in Ireland hangs on the decisions from the Department of Justice who are are looking to make positive changes.

Some of these changes include the streamlining of Ireland’s licensing laws. There is hope from the Department of Justice’s Justice Plan, that such reform will happen in the next couple of years. Consequently the department hopes to pilot programmes including staggered and later opening hours for venues.

In March this year, an agreement was made by Dublin council to introduce a night mayor. The town Development Plan has been put together to make sure cultural spaces are put at the forefront of Dublin’s planning development for the next five years.

As a part of this plan, it is hoped that new developments will contain multipurpose spaces. These could incorporate venues helping to ensure developers maintain a cultural infrastructure.

The pandemic has brought venue closures into the broader conversation which goes way beyond just keeping nightclubs open.

The Department of Justice announced in February 2021, that they were considering major changes to Ireland’s licensing laws. These include the extension of venues’ opening hours and staggered opening times alongside a new, annual nightclub permit that is being looked at.

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