Residents in Dublin's north inner city are to object to a licence for a lapdancing club due to open in the new year. Stringfellows club has applied for a dance licence to the Dublin District Court for its first Irish branch in Parnell Street.
The proposed club is in a mixed residential and commercial area of the street, opposite Wolfe Tone Close, an old people's complex. Local residents have said they will object to the licence, but if it is granted they will picket the "glorified strip club".
Frank Lynam of the North Inner City Residents Group said: "We already have trouble with late-night pubs in the area and we would be concerned about any club opening up, but this is 10 times worse," he said. "It is degrading for women and men as well. It will ruin the area if it opens."
Ruhuma, a voluntary organisation working with women in prostitution, believes the introduction of lapdancing clubs as a form of entertainment gives respectability to the sexual exploitation of women and desensitises people to the harm involved. Geraldine Rowley, communications officer, said it was well recognised that lapdancing clubs were part and parcel of the sex industry and a breeding ground for prostitution, trafficking and other crimes.
Councillor Aodhán Ó Riordáin said that outside business interests did not seem to understand that Parnell Street was a residential area.