Free The Night issue final call to sign open letter for "urgent reform of Northern Ireland's licensing system"

Nightlife advocacy group Free The Night's open letter for "urgent reform of Northern Ireland's licensing laws" closes at midnight tonight.

"This is our last chance to show government that we will no longer accept outdated legislation that continues to hold back nightlife, damage our creative communities and limit the potential of culture in Northern Ireland", stated the group online.

"If you believe our artists, venues, promoters, workers and communities deserve better, now is the time to stand with us".

Under the current licensing laws, pubs and bars are generally permitted to sell alcohol from 11:30 am to 11 pm, except on Sundays, where hours typically run from 12:30 pm to 11 pm. Venues holding specific late licences can serve alcohol up to 1:00 am or 2:00 am, depending on the type of premises and whether they have successfully applied for additional permitted hours.

Free The Night strongly objects to these laws, calling them dated, irrelevant, and a missed opportunity.

"They do not reflect the needs of modern society. We believe that progressive licensing allows a progressive approach to the creative industries and encourages cultural change", they said.

"Even after waiting 25 years for a change in licensing, our opening times remain the most restrictive in the UK and Ireland. A key opportunity to rebuild and grow our night-time economy after the COVID-19 pandemic has been missed".

The open letter outlines six core demands: Remove the artificial "one-in-one-out" cap on liquor licences that prevents grassroot venues from opening, eliminate unnecessary barriers and costs for running pop-up events and temporary arts programming, establish a new licensing category specifically for grassroot venues, arts, and cultural spaces, modernise opening hours to align with European standards, prevent businesses from using the license objection proces to block competition, and demand transparency over why the Department for Communities blocked rejected the recommendations of the University of Sterling's independent review.

The review identified structural issues within the system and proposed reforms to better support mixed-use and cultural venues, but campaigners say little progress has been made.

Free The Night was co-founded in June 2021 by Belfast-based DJ Holly Lester and human rights advocate Boyd Sleator. They marked the group's fifth anniversary with a fundraiser at The Ulster Sports Club in Belfast on April 11, featuring Marion Hawkes, Timmy Stewart, and Jordan Nocturne.

More information on their open letter is available here.