The news that the new Hoxton hotel on Exchequer Street in Dublin city centre was seeking an injunction against a neighbouring bar to force it to come to an accommodation over alleged late-night noise was met with the kind of furious grumbling that has become a familiar vibration across the capital in recent years. Those who operate in nightlife are in a constant state of vigilance; costs and corporate gentrification all exert pressure. Those who go out in Dublin are also dealing with the reality of a city that is stifled culturally, creatively and socially.
The Hoxton alleges complaints from guests due to late-night music from its neighbour, Yamamori Izakaya, and says this has resulted in the withdrawal of 31 of its 129 bedrooms. Scrolling through online reviews, the Hoxton is generally praised. Most of the negative reviews concern the usual kind of complaints about service. Someone is pretty irate about a sandwich. A handful of reviews mention the noise from the adjoining bar.
In a statement, the group behind the Hoxton, Trinity Hospitality, said it “has been seeking to engage constructively with Yamamori Izakaya since late November to conduct joint acoustic testing across both the restaurant unit and the hotel bedrooms” but that the testing had not yet happened, leaving it with “no choice but to seek this injunction”.
Yamamori offered to install sound-limiting devices and suggested the hotel soundproofed during its refurbishment. The Hoxton says it did install “extensive sound-mitigation measures” during the refurbishment, but it now wants “further acoustic works on the Yamamori side.” On Friday, the Hoxton said acoustic testing had now been agreed to would go ahead.
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It shouldn’t have had to come to this. An injunction is a costly measure for all parties, although, of course, some pockets are deeper than others. But it could be argued that the onus is on the new neighbour, not the existing one.
In the Dublin City Development Plan 2022-2028, noise impacts regarding this sort of situation are addressed: “All applications for short- or longer-term residential proposals (including hotels) that seek permission adjacent to established late-night uses such as nightclubs/music venues/public houses/comedy clubs, shall be required to demonstrate in their application, how, firstly through the use of good design and layout; and secondly, through increased sound insulation; they have ensured their development will not cause negative impacts on the adjoining uses in the future.”
The broader issue here is the pattern. All across the city, brilliant people working in promoting electronic music need more support and more spaces
This is effectively what is known as the agent of change principle. This principle attempts to avert retroactive nimbyism, putting the onus on a new noise-sensitive development to take mitigations against noise that preceded it. The principle seems to be that noise from an adjacent venue is not the venue’s problem.
In a separate case last year, the courts ruled in favour of a bar. When a resident living above Street 66 on Parliament Street in Dublin city centre objected to the bar’s late licence because of noise, the judge – dismissing the objection – said it was not reasonable to live in a city apartment in an area surrounded by bars and late-night venues and expect music to be inaudible. This is common sense.
While many see Yamamori as a restaurant (one that celebrated its 30th anniversary in Dublin last year), it also serves an important role in Dublin’s nightlife. Its club space, Tengu, at the back of another Yamamori on Ormond Quay, demonstrates how important small rooms with great DJs are to any city. I recently attended a brilliant set there by the artist HAAi, a world-class DJ and producer.
Across the river, the Hoxton’s neighbour, Izakaya on George’s Street, is the sort of space that would be ordinary in any capital, but in Dublin is important because we lack an abundance of the very kind of thing it offers; a lively basement with decent drinks, quality electronic music and a fun and diverse crowd.
In a statement to the Irish Times, the Hoxton said its issue was noise from the ground-floor restaurant, saying, “We are not seeking to curtail cultural or nightlife activity. We consider Yamamori Izakaya a hugely important part of the local nightlife scene and would like to see it thrive.”
On the hotel website, the Hoxton extolls the virtues of their new neighbourhood as “the cultural heart of the city”.
Indeed, the Hoxton will soon open a nightclub in its basement, which it says will be “a fully isolated acoustic structure.”
Unlike many international hospitality brands that arrive in Dublin city, the Hoxton made a concerted effort to ingratiate itself with the city’s social milieu, almost to the point of deference. It was obvious the Hoxton understood the context on the ground, and the sensitivities at play in a city that has been made defensive, understandably reactive to perceptions of the negative impact of corporate gentrification. The recent closure of the arts venue, The Complex, is another fresh wound.
The broader issue here is the pattern. All across the city, brilliant people working in promoting electronic music need more support and more spaces. One building’s allegedly noisy neighbour is another person’s great night out.
