Belfast’s newest night club Liquid gets 3am licence but owner says it won’t open that late
Belfast’s newest night club ‘Liquid’ has been given a 3am licence but its owner says it won't open that late.
Mr Malachy Houston, owner of Liquid Club and Lava Lounge, was speaking before elected representatives at Belfast City Hall this week, who granted him entertainments licences for his new venture.
Liquid Club and Lava Lounge opened its doors for the first time on August 15 at 10-14 Tomb Street. Many popular nightclubs have taken up residence at the location, including Milk, Rain and most recently Libertine.
At the August meeting of the Belfast Council Licensing Committee, held on Wednesday at City Hall, elected members approved indoor and outdoor entertainment licences for the new establishment. They cover Monday to Saturday, from 11.30am to 3am the following morning and Sunday, 12.30pm to 3am the following morning.
The areas where entertainment is proposed are the ground floor, with a maximum capacity of 180 persons, the firs t floor, with a maximum capacity of 220 persons, and the external smoking area, with a maximum capacity of 200 persons.
The council Licencing report states: “The applicant has advised that the reasons for applying for the extended hours is to reduce the impact of patrons all leaving at the same time, therefore reducing pressure on taxi services and transport home, and to be competitive with other premises in the vicinity.
"The applicant proposes to provide entertainment in the form of live music, such as live bands and DJ’s.”
The applicant, Mr Houston, who is also a DJ, attended the Licensing Committee meeting.
He said: “This is an application which is like-for-like on the previous owners, Libertine.
"We have requested the late licence – that is obviously (considering) the pressure of both public and private transfers, of people trying to get home, and the staggers of the people leaving the premises. They are not all leaving at the same time.
“We have applied for it until 3am, but we don’t really expect it to go to 3am, our latest would be 2am on the rotating hours, because we feel it would be unfair to our staff.”