Sober news for clubs

SMALL PRINT:A few years ago a hotel and bar in Donegal became Ireland's first non-alcoholic bar, after problems with its license meant it was unable to sell alcohol. The owner installed a slush puppy machine in the lounge and waited for customers. Needless to say, the idea didn't catch on and once the licence was restored, the bar reverted to serving alcohol.

Now though, it seems that sober socialising has taken root in Dublin, with the opening of a new non-alcohol club night in Temple Bar and the expansion of another venture.

David Mooney is the creator of Funky Seomra, an alcohol and drug-free nightclub that started life in a small city centre venue. Next month, the monthly club celebrates its third anniversary, having transferred to the RDS and regularly attracts up to 400 punters. “We serve about 15 different types of organic drinks and then we have a tea bar and an organic café,” says Mooney. “When we started out there was a lot of resistance to the idea and puzzlement about how this could work. Now that we are going three years, there is more acceptance of the idea and understanding that it is possible to go out without drinking.” The club has plans to expand into Galway and Cork.

Also hoping to offer a sober clubbing alternative is Peter O’Brien, who began a sober club night in Temple Bar last month in the Green Temple called Dancewave. The plan is to run the night weekly from October on. Drinks sold include wheatgrass, smoothies, juices and herbal teas. “It is a bar with really healthy stuff behind it,” says O’Brien, “so the opposite of a normal bar then.” The audience profile so far has been drinkers and non-drinkers from their late twenties to early forties. Attendance almost doubled for the second event, and if someone arrives having had a few too many, it’s not a problem. “A lot of people came smelling of drink and were happy to dance away with cups of tea,” says O’Brien.

Macho basket no gender-bender

A Danish company has designed a bike basket for men, because apparently we’re gendering bike baskets now. The Bike Crate by the company MAIK is a sturdy stainless steel and lightweight aluminium masculine carrier made for the front of urban bikes. Remarkably, this appears to be the first bicycle basket designed for men.

MAIK’s co-founder Andreas Sachse says the Bike Crate is “a practical and stylish solution to the common transportation problems faced by the urban cyclist”.

So, will Irish male cyclists be jumping at the opportunity to get their hands on this latest product? Maybe not. “I have never in my life sold a basket to a man,” says John Clarke, owner of Think Bike in Rathmines in Dublin. His shop and workshop specialises in commuter bikes for people who are using their bikes every day in and around this bustling Dublin suburb. “It’s a girl thing. Men on the Continent might have baskets, but they’re much more confident. Irish men would be too conscious of what other people would think.” Can he see men ever buying bike baskets for themselves? “Absolutely not.” Not even if they’re all slick and European and masculine? “It’s not a goer for the Irish market.” Really? “Not at all.” Fine then.

However, there is one thorn in the side of the Irishman’s disdain for bike baskets, and that is the success of Dublin Bikes. The functional and sturdy baskets at the front of its bikes are home to briefcases, bags, shopping, and whatever else, used by both men and women. But as something to buy when given the option, it’s slightly different. “Men use the carrier at the back,” says Clarke, adding that men carry their belongings “generally in a backpack or a rear carrier. They’d be more conscious than they’d let on about how a bike would look.”

So don’t expect Bike Crates to be flying out the doors of Irish bike shops anytime soon, because bike baskets remain one of the most unusually and empathically gender-segregated products around.