The High Court has adjourned the injunction hearing over noise complaints brought by Trinity Hospitality, the operator of The Hoxton Hotel against bar, restaurant and late night space Yamamori Izakaya.
The case will reappear before the courts on March 5th.
The Hoxton vs. Yamamori Izakaya: The Story So Far
What started as a noise complaint has quickly become one of the most talked-about disputes in Dublin’s nightlife scene in recent years and a lightning rod for a much bigger conversation about who the city is actually for.
Yamamori Izakaya, the beloved bar, restaurant and late-night venue on South Great George’s Street, has been a cornerstone of Dublin’s night-time culture since 2011. Housed in the former Bewley’s café space, its basement has long been a launchpad for local DJs and a rare example of a genuinely independent, community-rooted club night in the city centre.
Its new neighbour is The Hoxton, the British hotel chain that spent the last few years refurbishing the iconic Central Hotel next door, and in doing so, took over the former Rí-Rá nightclub space, which they plan to rebrand as a basement venue called Groundwork, promising, in their own words, “a venue celebrating community, inclusiveness and classic club culture.”
The irony, as you might have already clocked, is hard to miss.
It emerged on February 13th that The Hoxton’s operators, Trinity Hospitality, had sought a High Court injunction against Yamamori, citing “repeated and serious noise nuisance” during late night hours. In an affidavit, the hotel’s manager claimed guests had complained and that 31 of its 129 rooms were not being regularly used as a result.
Correspondence had apparently been going back and forth between the two sides for weeks. Trinity Hospitality say they had been seeking joint acoustic testing since late November but claimed Yamamori refused to proceed without first receiving technical specifications detailing what sound attenuation measures the hotel had installed during its refurbishment. The hotel’s position was that this information wasn’t necessary for testing to go ahead and that, left with no other option, they went to court.
A further complication in their case: Trinity say the noise issue isn’t coming from Yamamori’s basement at all, but from DJ events now taking place on the ground floor restaurant, which they claim doesn’t have the structural acoustic measures of a proper nightclub.
Yamamori, for their part, hit back firmly. In a statement issued on February 17th, they utterly rejected Trinity Hospitality’s version of events – disputing the account of engagement during the build, the expert meeting claims, and crucially, asserting that the hotel’s operators never shared the requested information about what soundproofing had actually been installed on their side.
By that point, the dispute had already escaped the courts and landed squarely in the public arena. A protest took place on South Great George’s Street on the evening of February 17th, followed by a public meeting at The Cobblestone, with speakers including People Before Profit’s Richard Boyd Barrett TD and by-election candidate Eoghan Ó Ceannabháin. A petition on Uplift gathered significant support in a short space of time.
Because this case, whatever its technical and legal specifics, has touched something real. Dublin has watched venue after venue, The Complex most recently, The Cobblestone before it – come under threat or disappear entirely, while hotels have multiplied across the city centre with little apparent concern for the cultural fabric they’re building into.
The principle at stake here is the Agent of Change – the idea, enshrined in the Dublin City Development Plan, that new developments moving into areas with established late-night venues are responsible for ensuring their build doesn’t negatively impact those existing uses. In plain terms: if you build a hotel next to a nightclub, you soundproof your side. You don’t take the nightclub to the High Court.
Whether that principle will carry any weight in this particular case remains to be seen. Joint acoustic testing has reportedly now taken place. Whether the matter is resolved privately or returns to court, the damage – reputationally at least – has already been done.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
