A JUDGE will rule today in the case in which a Temple Bar hotel and nightclub has appealed for an easing of restrictions on late-night music.
In evidence yesterday, Irish Timesenvironment editor Frank McDonald, a local resident, told the court he had apologised after he confronted a woman manager when she smirked at a complaint he made about excessive noise.
“I hit her. I very much regret that and I apologised,” he told Circuit Court president Mr Justice Matthew Deery. McDonald told the Circuit Civil Court he had been engaged in a 15-year campaign against “intolerable noise” coming from the River House Hotel, including its Mezz Bar and Think Tank nightclub.
He said that at 2am one morning, when he could not get to sleep because of the noise, he had gone to the hotel and complained to staff. He had been referred to a woman called Vera and had repeated his complaint.
“I complained I was not able to get to sleep and that it was 2am. She maintained a smirk on her face and asked what did I expect it was a nightclub,” he said.
He told his counsel Colm Mac Eochaidh SC: “I lost my cool and put my hands on each side of her head and shook her head briefly. I left and a bouncer ran after me. He put my hand behind my back and pinned me against the wall. He manhandled me and called to another bouncer. He forced me back to the entrance of the pub and accused me of assault and I immediately apologised.”
McDonald, who lives in an apartment in Temple Lane, Temple Bar, near to the hotel complex, said what he had done had been the result of having been unable to sleep. At one stage, he felt his apartment would become uninhabitable because of the noise.
He said the situation had deteriorated to the point he felt he had no option but to object to hotel owner Frank Conway obtaining a dance and singing licence.
He had done so in the District Court and had discovered the premises had been operating without a licence for two years due to tax difficulties.
Another local resident, university lecturer Richard Duckworth, said he had lived 24-7 with a sound nuisance in his apartment above the hotel. He had agreed to sell his apartment to Mr Conway’s son, Nicholas, in a deal which included an agreement not to object to Mr Conway obtaining a licence.
Michael McDowell SC told the court that Judge Jacqueline Linnane last July had granted the hotel a licence with undertakings attached which made it difficult for Mr Conway to trade.
He said he had spent about €80,000 on sound-proofing his premises and joint sound tests had been carried out by the parties last week.
Mr McDowell, who appeared with Dorothy Collins for Mr Conway, said his client faced bankruptcy and asked the judge to lift or vary two undertakings banning live music in the Mezz Bar and restricting court application for exemption orders. The judge said he would give his decision today.