Following a successful trial in December, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media is launching a new series of vulnerability training courses for the night-time sector next week.

These courses aim to create a safer environment for all, safeguarding the most vulnerable and preventing violence against women. From the murder of 23-year-old primary teacher Aisling Murphy, reported drink spikings, sexual harassment to assault and worrying interactions with dangerous taxi drivers and a lack of night-time transport; women especially in Ireland have felt unsafe and uneasy in the past few months.

These courses have been developed in partnership with the Licensed Vintners Association, Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, Restaurant Association of Ireland, the County and City Management Association and Give Us the Night and with the support of the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána.

The Night-Time Economy Taskforce Report, published in September 2021, highlighted the issue of public safety and suggested ways that current structures could support and enhance safety measures.

“The need to provide a safe environment for all those who work and socialise in our towns and cities is so important and with that in mind, my Department is funding a series of vulnerability training courses for the Night-Time Economy Sector," Minister Catherine Martin said today.

The key objective of this course is to enable workers and businesses in the Night-Time Economy to identify the issues around safeguarding and vulnerability management and violence against women. It will provide staff with an increased understanding of their responsibilities and duty of care to vulnerable people and train them on actions that must be taken to reduce identified risk.

A series of policy templates in the areas such as incident and vulnerability management will also be available for businesses to download and use.

“I want to assist businesses in the Night-Time Economy to support and protect their staff and customers by identifying issues before they arise and also to have clear policies and procedures in place for when incidents occur,” Catherine Martin added.

The Minister insisted that venues or businesses have a clear commitment to ensuring customer safety which in turn gives more confidence to people socialising at night by providing a safe environment to do so.

“The safety of women and all customers engaging in the Night-Time Economy needs to be prioritised. People should feel safe when they are out socialising at night without the fear of violence or harassment and that’s why it is important that staff are trained, so they can provide assistance for anyone who finds themselves in a difficult or intimidating situation,” Minister Martin continued.

This training is open to any person, business or venue operating or working in the Night-Time Economy

There are six training sessions available for registration. The initiative aims to provide training to over 600 businesses and staff working and engaging in the Night-Time Economy nationwide.

You can register for the training here.

The course will cover the following topics over a 2 hour webinar via Zoom:

1. The main types of vulnerability found in the Night-Time Economy
2. Safeguarding
3. Adults and children at risk of harm
4. Violence against women and women's safety
5. Drink spiking
6. Responsibilities and duty of care
7. How to respond to the main types of vulnerability and when to call emergency services and report to local authorities
8. Performing a dynamic risk assessment
9. Policies and practices to promote a safe environment for all