Interesting discussion started by Potato about pub closing times (with references from Twenty). I agree with a lot of what he said but there’s also the related problem of transport in the city. Why on earth do nitelinks only run twice from Monday to Thursday at 12.30 and 2.00am? When I was in college there was a much better service, especially on Thursday considering its “student nite” in most clubs. Plus, they’ve curtailed the Friday/Saturday service to a bus every half hour from 12.30 until 4.30 or “more frequently if demand dictates”. What the hell is that? Am I supposed to guess what demand will be like on any given weekend?! I can understand Dublin Bus not wanting Nitelinks to be leaving half empty but people have to wait around on the street if they’ve just missed them. Westmoreland Street when niteclubs have closed isn’t the safest place to be.
Now you may be wondering “why don’t ya just get a taxi?”, well as Rick O’Shea has recently pointed out on DublinBlog.ie, taxis can be hard to come by on weekend nights. Plus it costs €20-25 for a taxi from town to my place and that can add up over the course of a couple of nights out. Maybe if we had better transport, plus revised opening hours, we’d be able to curtail drink related crime etc but there’s a lot more to it than just when the barman calls time.