Madam, - The granting of a licence for Stringfellow's nightclub in Parnell Street raises questions about the adequacy of our current planning laws and the ability of current legislation to deal with the demands of modern Ireland. Stringfellow's is permitted to open a club once it has been granted a dance licence. I am amazed that such a club can be allowed to operate close to a school in a residential area without having to apply for planning permission.
But aside from the granting of the licence to this particular club, we need to debate the wider issue of where sex shops and lapdancing clubs should be located in the city and indeed whether such clubs are a desirable development at all.
Under existing legislation Dublin city councillors have their hands tied when it comes to regulating what type of entertainment is available, and where it should be carried out, if at all, in our city. This must change. We need to tighten our laws to give councillors power to regulate in this area. - Yours, etc,
Cllr BRONWEN MAHER, Deputy Lord Mayor, Green Party, City Hall, Dublin 2.
Madam, - The granting of a so-called dance licence in the Dublin District Court to Stringfellow's nightclub is, I believe, a retrograde step.
The licence, which will allow nude women to perform table-side dancing, was welcomed by club owner Peter Stringfellow who referred to Dublin as "a modern European capital".
It would appear that in Mr Stringfellow's lexicon, the criterion for being a modern European capital is the sexual exploitation of vulnerable women in lewd and seedy nightclubs. - Yours, etc,
TOM COOPER, Delaford Lawn, Knocklyon, Dublin 16.
Madam, - "That the food and drinks menu would not bear images of women fully or partially naked" is one of eight conditions that Judge Ann Watkin outlined in the ruling to allow Stringfellow's to open in Dublin's Parnell Street.
Why would Judge Watkins worry about the images of women on menus being fully or partially naked, when all around the club real women will be "undressed or partially undressed"? - Yours, etc,
CHLOE O'CONNOR, Cashel Road, Kimmage, Dublin 12.
Madam, - Maybe the residents of Parnell Street have good reason to be concerned about the imminent opening of Peter Stringfellow's nightclub. On page four of Tuesday's edition we were informed that Stringfellow was granted his licence; six pages on, we learned that a doorman at Stringfellow's nightclub in London had just been convicted of the manslaughter of a reveller who touched one of the dancers.
What a strange world we live in. - Yours, etc,
LIZ MELDON, Henley Park, Churchtown, Dublin 14.