Top night club faces closure

One of Dublin’s busiest student night clubs looks set to close down following a refusal by planning authorities to allow certain areas of the surrounding premises to be retained.

Clontarf night club Barcode, which is popular with DCU students, is likely to be shut down permanently due to the illegal building of an extension on the site of the premises which was erected without initial planning permission.

Both Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanala refused to grant the owners of Westwood Leisure Centre permission to retain the structure.

The only parts of the leisure centre that will remain are the health clinic, the lobby and the storage area.

Although the owners of the leisure centre appealed Dublin City Council’s original decision, An Bord Pleanala supported the council’s stance on the matter and added that the remaining buildings should no longer be used for the sale and consumption of alcohol.

This leaves the future of Barcode in limbo as it regularly attracts hundreds of customers every weekend.
Part of the night club may also be torn down as it infringes on the area where planning permission has been refused.

The owners of the leisure centre can now take a judicial review of the case which, if successful, would overrule the decision of Dublin City Council and An Bord Pleanala.

The night club is considered a nuisance by locals, some of whom feel terrorised by its customers.
Many locals lodged letters of objection complaining about Barcode during the night club’s review process with Dublin City Council.

In a letter to the Evening Herald one local said: “We have had untold problems with its [Barcode’s] patrons since it opened.

“We regularly have cars vandalised, bins turned upside down, beer bottles and cans thrown into our garden, damaging cars and property.

“Our office windows have been smashed on several occasions and we regularly have to clean off graffiti.”

The popular Dracula Experience museum, which opened in 2003, also looks set to be demolished.

A spokesperson for Westwood Leisure Centre told the College View that Barcode was a separate entity to the leisure centre and was unable to comment further on the matter.

The management at Barcode was unavailable for comment.