Nightclubs will be put out of business if they are not allowed to open beyond 1.30 a.m., the industry said this morning.
Mr Robbie Fox, spokesman for the Irish Nightclub Industry Association and owner of Reynard's Nightclub in Dublin, said he was extremely worried and angry at reports that senior gardai were planning lodge objections when the special exemption orders for club licences come up for annual review this week.
Senior members of the force in Dublin met on Friday to consider public-order issues arising from late-night drinking. Nightclubs operate under the normal licensing laws for pubs, but have to regularly seek special exemption orders to allow them to stay open later, sometimes up to 4.30 a.m.
Mr Fox dismissed claims that the objections had anything to do with trying to combat public-order offences saying the reasons were to do with bad rostering and lack of resources on the part of the Garda.
"There are often less gardaí rostered on a Saturday night than on a Monday morning in the larger towns," he said.
"On one weekend night in Galway recently there were twelve gardaí on duty in the city compared to thirty doormen and security staff working in one particular nightclub. People were safer in the club than on the street outside."
He said it had been proved over and over again that curtailing nightclub opening times did not reduce public order offences.
"In Melbourne, public order offences actually decreased when nightclubs extended their opening hours"
He added that the earlier closing time would encourage binge drinking with people "trying to get drink into them as quickly as possible."
He claimed that people leaving nightclubs at the same time would put pressure on taxis and fast food outlets and lead to aggression on the streets.
A spokeswoman for the Minister for Justice said Mr McDowell had no comment on the matter as yet.