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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Cork has always had an interesting and innovative music scene. During the 1980s, it was the unlikely home to a vibrant reggae scene. Notable bands included the cello playing post-punk outfit Five Go Down To The Sea, and Microdisney, the Irish equivalent of Fleetwood Mac. The nightclub Sir Henry’s, founded in the 70s introduced many to club music, especially house. Sir Henry’s was ground zero for the scene. A night there called Sweat attracted many international stars like Kerri Chandler, Cajmere and Derrick May.

A local record store called Plugd has been a centre for electronic music in Cork, regularly hosting new producers upstairs in the shop’s live space, called the Roundy.

Many of the artists have a mutual respect and and are open to influences from many different sources. Superfície, a Brazilian-Irish producer now based in Berlin, introduced her contemporaries to kuduro, baile funk and batucada.

Another group, Flood’s first release was an eclectic nine-track compilation that came out in 2017, a year after they formed. They secured a studio in an industrial estate overlooking Cork’s docklands and began recording their unique material. The music they make reflects their surroundings, a mix of mechanic and organic. The docklands have a stark contrast between decaying industrial warehouses and beautiful views of the Cork harbour.

The internet and local music hubs are one of the reasons why the scene has grown but the whole story. Cork has had a love of house music for a long time and this has no doubt had a significant influence on the percussive music that has been coming out the city in recent times.

As soon as you play a record from Flood or a hypnotic Ellll track, or a heavy Lighght release you can feel the unique energy. The drums sound tribal, as though they could have been sampled from an African record. Over the top of them you can hear the local influences.

Numbertheory includes a sample of sean nós, a traditional Irish tradition of singing.

Coy by Syn includes a sample of the bodhrán, an Irish drum. Some of Lighght’s music uses a harp. Irishness is deeply embedded within this music.

Cork is also known as “the rebel county”. It’s a cliché, but the rebel aesthetic that Cork has adopted really shapes the culture there.

A lot of the artists don’t identify with Cork’s self-mythologising, however. Many in fact remember begrudging Cork from a young age due to the shortage of activities for young people. For some there was not much more to do than get up to mischief.

The members of Flood threw many of their own parties due to the way that commercialised venues prioritised money over any kind of interesting experience. Today, Syn helps run a queer night where unfashionable styles like hardgroove, gabber and donk are the music policy. The big clubs are more interested in playing more popular styles like EDM and tech house.

Producers are forced to look for for opportunities outside of clubs. Luckily much of the music being created in Cork is championed by local artists and DJs. Dublin Digital Radio is a haven for alternative music in Ireland.

Increasingly difficult challenges in the electronic music scene in Cork have meant many talented producers and creatives have had to move abroad however. Berlin and Glasogow are popular choices due to the lower rents and less prohibitive nightclub cultures.

Financial barriers haven’t halted the momentum of those artists, however. It´s a testament to the scene that there are still hugely popular nights in venues such as the Roundy.

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The promoters had hoped to run the Kino as a venue until this summer. However, now the best-case scenario is for live music in Ireland is that things may start again in June or July.

Taking about the Kino Closure, the promoters explained that isn’t feasible for them to pay rent while closed; only to open again for just a limited period.

Before the Covid pandemic, the venue had become a major addition to the city’s nightlife. It hosted gigs and comedy nights with both Irish and international acts. After a period of closure during the last lockdown, the venue had re-opened briefly in September for a series of performances with seated audiences and lower numbers.

Through the Government’s recent live performance support scheme, the Kino was able to host audience-less performances from a variety of artists. The performances were filmed and were available across their social media platforms.

Ed O’Leary, one of the promoters, was sad about the Kino’s permanent closure. He has spoken about how the venue was just finding its groove and was building a good reputation. He feels they never really got an opportunity to totally realise their vision for the Kino. If Covid hadn’t come along the future of the venue may have been very different.

Philip O’Connor, the venue’s landlord was apparently very supportive and understanding the whole time . He really wanted the venue to succeed.

The promoters are already searching for alternative venues within the city and, depending on limitations, hope to resume the Live At St Luke’s concerts within the autumn they also run.

The Kino had been an arthouse cinema from 1996 to 2009 with a capacity of 200 people. hey took over the venue from former occupants, the Pot Black snooker club. The venue has since become a popular spot and was a central location for screenings for the Cork film festival.

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The Live Venues Collective and EPIC (Event Production Industry Covid-19 group) have been lobbying for extra funding. A €180 million fund has been set aside and is hoped to ease the pressure to support the industry.

Some Cork culture and arts venues are filming or streaming productions and whilst it fills the void; a small group of artists are really looking forward to performing again in front of an audience.

Digital programming will no doubt be a feature across culture and arts that will continue into the future.

At the Everyman theatre they have a ‘Play It By Ear’ programme which consists of rehearsed readings. The venue records nine plays that are available online and on demand in a similar manner to a Spotify playlist.

Fred Zeppelins is a venue where new bands go to learn on stages. The venue doesn’t vet bands and absolutely anyone can turn up and play.

This year due to the pandemic there have been no gigs or Battle of the Bands competitions. This was how many bands gained an audience and grew a reputation. It’s also a way to test out new material in front of audiences.

Grants are supporting parts of the industry but it seems that younger bands are being overlooked. It is difficult to quantify the effect it is having on this sector of the music business.

Cork’s Culture and arts venues have had a drive towards engaging online. This engaged their customers but also enabled them to appear active and look more attractive for funding.

The culture and arts funding model is different in Ireland to England, mainly in terms of how funds are distributed. In England, fund are allocated to arts organisations who distribute and allocate money to those that need it. This frees individuals from bureaucracy. This ensures that sure those in the know are in charge of how best to deal with management. This differs to how it works in Ireland. In Ireland, there is more of a redistributive model and doesn’t work so effectively.

At the Cork Opera House there hasn’t been a performance in over a year. They too are adapting to the circumstances.

They´ve decided to look at the potential positives and opportunities the situation has presented them with. They have also filmed a lot of their concerts with a focus on giving opportunities to local artists.

Without a Covid pandemic it would have probably taken theatres longer than other venues to join the digital world. Engaging with a live audience is an indispensable part of the experience.

The owners of Cypress Avenue completed a full venue refurbishment and scheduled a full program of events across the year. This venue shares the opinion of their counterparts in that they are frustrated booking and rescheduling dates. Without clear milestones in place venues don´t know where they stand.

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