Concerns over 'adult' nightclub in Kilkenny

Plans for a new "adult" nightclub in Kilkenny featuring male and female strippers have alarmed civic leaders who fear it could damage the city's reputation as an upmarket tourist destination.

The District Court has received an application for a change of licence at a pub on Parliament Street from Whispers Ireland, and a decision is expected next week.

The company, which could not be reached for comment yesterday, already operates a club in the Ballybricken area of Waterford city which features pole-dancing and lap-dancing, and is reportedly popular with stag and hen parties.

A "male dance troupe" which performs at the club, and can also be hired for private functions, offers costumed characters such as "a groovy garda" and a "dirty doctor".

Female dancers wear a range of outfits "selected to set pulses racing" including "an 'innocent' schoolgirl" and a "naughty nurse".

Joe Reidy, a Fianna Fáil member of the borough council, said: "This is not what we're looking for in Kilkenny."

He intends to raise the matter at next Monday's monthly council meeting.

He described the location "between the historic Rothe House and St Canice's Cathedral" as "totally inappropriate".

Mr Reidy called on Kilkenny people to boycott the club, and said he hoped it would "go the same way as Stringfellow's in Dublin".

Cllr Andrew McGuinness (FF), who runs music events for young people at a venue on the same street, said he "totally opposed" such a club, and would be concerned about teenagers leaving his establishment "being faced with a stripclub".

However, Cllr Pat Crotty (FG) claimed that opposition to the club betrayed a "squinting windows" mentality, and said lap-dancing was a "legal form of entertainment". He added: "If the club is properly run it is just another form of business."

A spokesman for Kilkenny local authorities said they had "no control" over the matter because "whether or not the ladies are clothed is not a planning issue".

The proposed site of the club has a colourful history. The latest venue, a pub called P3, is now closed. It was previously known as The Widow McGrath's and housed an upstairs restaurant called The Drunken Mexican. A banner advertising the restaurant outraged the Mexican ambassador during a visit to Kilkenny, and he asked that it be removed.