Yamamori Izakaya is one of Dublin’s finest late night spots with its basement known for supporting and nurturing local talent since 2011.
Housed in the former Bewley’s cafe, which was also Café Bar Deli, Izakaya is at the centre of a dispute over noise with its new neighbours, The Hoxton which share walls with the establishment.
The British hotel chain The Hoxton Hotel refurbished Dublin’s iconic Central Hotel on George’s Street over the last few years, and in the process took over the former nightclub space Rí-Rá, which The Hoxton plans to rebrand as Groundwork night club, which they say is “a basement nightlife venue celebrating community, inclusiveness and classic club culture”.
Well there is already a basement nightclub space active for a number of years next door – the bar, restaurant and night venue space Yamamori Izakaya – showcasing just that – DJs play til late five nights a week and has done long before the Hoxton opened, while the Central Hotel was in operation.
However, it has emerged that the hotel is seeking a High Court injunction against the same late night venue next door, the Irish Times reports.
Hoxton’s hotel manager Stephen Ernest said in in an affidavit seeking an injunction, there has “repeated and serious noise nuisance” and “elevated noise levels “from Yamamori during late night and early morning hours.
The Hoxton says hotel guests have complained of noise and is not using 31 rooms regularly as a result (it has 129 rooms in total).
There had been correspondence between the parties over a number of weeks, with Yamamori offering to put in tamper-proof sound-limiting devices, Ernest said. There were also promises that its noise expert would meet the hotel’s expert, but no meeting took place.
Counsel said the Yamamori side had also suggested the hotel should have put in noise attenuation measures during refurbishment.
So we have a hotel planning to open a basement nightclub later this year – “celebrating community, inclusiveness and classic club culture” – looking to hamper the existing independent nightclub that is surrounded and adjoins the same building?
What “Groundwork” are they laying exactly?
Here’s the thing, as we see time and time again, the venue pre-existed this hotel development and there was no problems previously.
Ireland’s recent adoption of Night-Time Economy Mayors, the work of the Give Us The Night campaign, and increased interest in the idea of the Night-Time Economy in general has lead to the idea, adopted elsewhere, of The Agent of Change.
That is the idea where existing venues or spaces are recognised as essentially being there first so if a new hotel or residential development has an issue with noise then it’s up to the developer to soundproof its new builds not put the onus on the venue to retrofit to them.
The Agent Of Change was included in Give Us The Night’s recommendations last year – it currently exists as “Noise Impacts” in the Dublin City Development Plan.
You have to wonder what kind of sound proofing was put into the new refurbishment at The Hoxton or if it was considered throughout by the developers, as Yamamori was operating throughout its build.
The Hoxton is a luxury hotel chain with no current cultural presence in Dublin, and is already using legal and financial muscle not three months after opening to quieten a late night space that gives budding DJs key slots and contributes to the culture.
The idea that you can build or renovate in this case, a hotel in Dublin city centre, and then complain when there is noise from surrounding neighbours is galling, and something that needs to be extinguished.
We saw last summer how a similar case taken in the High Court against Street 66 by a resident above the Parliament Street bar was dismissed – common sense prevailed.
But developers have more money than a single resident, and are more willing and have more resources to put the squeeze on their existing neighbour, when any potential issues they had during the build should have included the Hoxton sound-proofing their side effectively, in line with the Agent of Change principle.
Or we could go further to protect Ireland’s dwindling late night venues.
In New South Wales, the “Eyes Wide Open” policy means buyers and renters of a property in a nightlife area are furnished with a planning certificate stating the existing role of these venues, entering into a clause that will protect these venues from the noise complaints of new residents.
The Hoxton / Izakaya case could be back in court next week.
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.
