The details of Ireland’s ‘new normal’ nightlife are still being hashed out…

The government continues to refine the rules concerning Irish nightlife since the reopening of late bars and nightclubs last week. Last night it was confirmed that nightclubs guests would be required to purchase a ticket at least one hour in advance of showing up at the door.

Addressing the matter of ticketing, the Vintners Federation of Ireland wrote “Following this morning’s 9am meeting, there remains as many questions as answers.” According to RTÉ, any venue that offers ‘dancing’ will be required to put a ticketing system in place.

For the government’s part, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has accepted that the proposed system is far from perfect. He said: “To be very frank, I think there are going to be teething problems, I think there are going to be implementation problems, and we will keep all of these matters under review and we’ll keep engaging with the sector.”

“The most important thing is that we managed to get the sector open, and the second most important thing is that we make sure the sector stays open, and that’s why we want to have a ticketing regime: to make sure that people are fully vaccinated, to make sure that capacity limits are maintained, to make sure that we can do contact-tracing if there’s an outbreak in a nightclub or in a bar.”

These requirements are expected to be signed into law tomorrow. The ticketing solution follows other controversial measures, such as requiring venues to enforce socially distanced queues at the bar counter.

Noel Anderson, managing director of Lemon and Duke late bar in Dublin, has sharply criticised the government’s approach, saying: “The amount of calls I’m getting off late night operators wondering what in the name of Jaysis is going on is mental. Dear government confusion is never ever a good thing considering what’s trying to be achieved.”