Belfast’s Dirty Onion has been granted an extension to its licence to provide entertainment until 3am.
Elected members at Belfast City Council’s Licensing Committee have approved the variation of a seven day annual indoor entertainments licence for the popular Cathedral Quarter bar at 42 Waring Street.
The new licence does not apply to the outdoor beer garden.
The days and hours during which entertainment was provided under the terms of the previous licence were Monday to Saturday, 11.30am to 1.00am the following morning, and Sunday 12.30pm to 12.00midnight.
That will now change to Monday to Sunday, 11.30am to 3.00am the following morning.
The areas licensed to provide indoor entertainment, with their maximum occupancies are: 180 for the ground floor, 60 for the first floor, and 60 for the “Second Fiddle.”
The council report states: “The applicant has stated that the extension of hours to 3.00am is to fulfil the customers demand for a late night music venue and will be used in conjunction with the Article 44a extension to Liquor Licensing hours.”
The Dirty Onion’s outdoor entertainments licence for the 240 person beer garden continues to be Monday to Saturday: 11.30am to 1.00am the following morning, and Sunday: 12.30pm to 12.00midnight.
New legislation introduced last October allowed pubs and hotels everywhere in Northern Ireland to apply to serve drinks until 2am up to 104 nights per year, and to extend drinking-up time from 30 minutes to an hour, with the net effect that premises with the correct entertainment licences would not close until at least 3am.
The changes also included all additional restrictions on opening hours over Easter weekend being removed and opening hours on Sunday evenings falling in line with other evenings.
