well, looks like we won!

Irish Times
No Garda objections to city-centre late licences
Carl O'Brien

Nightclub owners yesterday claimed that gardaÃ* appeared to have
abandoned plans to object to the granting of late licences for
premises in Dublin city centre.

A number of late licences and dance licences for pubs and nightclubs
were yesterday granted by Dublin District Court; applications for
city-centre nightclubs are due to be heard before the court today and
tomorrow.

The Garda yesterday declined to comment on whether it would lodge any
objections to the licences, while one source said matters were still
under consideration.

Senior members of the force in Dublin met last week to consider
public-order issues arising from late-night drinking and reportedly
decided to lodge objections when the cases came up this week. If
successful, the move would force some nightclubs to close at 1.30 a.m.

Mr Robbie Fox, a spokesman for the Irish Nightclub Industry
Association, said objections later this week were not expected.

"It's great news, it means our industry is saved," Mr Fox
said. "There was a huge public outcry to these plans. We'll continue
doing what we have been doing. If anything, we're looking to extend
the licensing hours, not restrict them."

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, declined to
comment except to say it was a matter for the Garda to object to
licence applications.

However, in a move which some industry sources saw as significant,
the Minister said in a radio interview yesterday that licensing
legislation did not provide for blanket objections and each case
would have to be considered on its own merits.

Nightclubs operate under normal licensing laws for pubs, but have to
regularly seek special exemption orders to allow them to stay open
later. Dance licences are also reviewed annually and a number of
nightclubs are due to have their applications heard before the court
this week.

The Irish Nightclub Industry Association had argued that the Garda
plans had little to do with tackling public-order offences, and had
more to do with lack of Garda resources.

Mr Fox said forcing nightclubs to close at 1.30 a.m. would have
resulted in 30,000 drinkers being let out on to Dublin's streets at
the same time, creating the potential for even bigger public order
problems.

Reports of the Garda's plans sparked an internet-based campaign. The
website, www.giveusthenight.com, had received more than 10,000
signatures yesterday