Staff at the Shebeen Chic bar in Dublin’s city centre are continuing a sit-in at the premises in a bid to keep the nightspot open.
The employees were instructed by High Court order to vacate the premises on Monday.
Speaking in the bar’s downstairs performance area, which is now covered with mattresses, manager Orlagh Murphy said staff planned to continue their protest until a stay of execution was agreed.
A High Court order instructed the 21 employees to vacate the premises after the tenant, Jay Bourke, failed to come to resolve a dispute with the landlord, Cessona Ltd, over rent payments.
Mr Bourke claims rent was negotiated to €100,000 per year in 2009 and on that basis, Sheeben Chic Ltd is not in arrears.
Speaking on behalf of Cessona Ltd, auctioneer John Kenneally said analysis of the rent was on the basis of the original lease, set at €166,000 a year.
Subsequently, Mr Kenneally claims “quite a lot of money” was owed by the tenant. There was also an issue of the late payments of rent. Mr Bourke accepts this happened and attributed it in part to business losing money in its first year.
“We would all love to be ideal tenants in the world but when you have a big rent around your neck and you have no bank support and the business is losing money for the first year, where does that money come from?” asked Ms Murphy.
She said the bar was now profitable and supported not just its direct employees, but musicians and comedians who performed there.
“What we are saying is that we are a viable business. We can pay our bills so why are we being made unemployed? I thought jobs were supposed to be sacred at the moment.”
Ms Murphy said she was going to continue the protest until such a time as she received a good explanation as to why the bar needed to shut. She claimed to have presented a number of solutions to the landlord, all of which have been rejected.