ISSUE 18

Hotelification

We’re no stranger to the alarming trend of cultural erosion but last week, Dublin’s clubbing culture community was dealt a body blow that has left the city reeling. The Bernard Shaw, a beacon of our city’s culture, buzz, independence and soul, announced it was to close its doors after thirteen booming years. This is the same fate suffered by Hangar and Tivoli, both functioning theatres and later much-loved club spaces that saw many’s the heavy hitter lug a bag of vinyl (evolving to USBs) through the doors over the years. But, while those losses were painfully felt, the closure of the Shaw feels like a personal attack on a community already being persecuted by city overlords determined to build hotels on our habitat.