The Clockwork Door ‘won’t renew’ city centre lease without rapid change to address issues
Ciaran Hogan, owner and operator of The Clockwork Door for the past eight years, had hoped the city would improve in the last year, but that hasn’t happened.
A member of his staff was recently mugged and beaten while waiting for a bus home after work.
“Every incident like this – my staff member being attacked or guests saying their phone was stolen – just reinforces the perception that the city isn’t safe,” he said.
This will be the second year in a row that The Clockwork Door has decided not to participate in Culture Night, after equipment was stolen from the venue during the event in 2022.
Despite repeated calls for a plan to rejuvenate the city centre and address anti-social behaviour, Mr Hogan believes nothing has changed.
He said he would “love nothing more” than to participate in Culture Night and praised the organisers of the event.
“I made the statement last year and I wasn’t going to change my mind about this year unless the city had improved significantly … obviously, that hasn’t happened,” he said.
“I don’t think they’re treating the root cause of the problem. It’s trying to promote culture when the venues and events that promote that culture are really going to struggle if people don’t want to be in Dublin city centre.”
He added that people who experience crime in the city often feel there is no reason to report it as they have “no confidence” in the system.
“If they’re catching someone in the middle of committing a crime, they have to be able to prosecute them fully,” Mr Hogan said.
“There’s a systematic problem – not that gardaí are lazy, but that they’re not being supported.”
The Clockwork Door on Wellington Quay is a social space and venue that offers a mix of board games, a café, study spaces, a hostel common room, a lecture hall, and escape rooms.
They host events like Laughter Yoga, Mocktail Classes, game nights, and movie nights.
The owner said that, in the past eight years of running the business, nobody from Dublin City Council has ever reached out to help or support them in any way.
He believes there “needs to be a public perception of safety and security”, which could be achieved with an increased garda presence and support for them to follow through on getting offenders off the streets.
The Clockwork Door has previously said their family-run business would consider relocating due to safety issues in Dublin, and Mr Hogan has now confirmed they will finish up their lease and “not renew”, unless something changes rapidly.
“I’m actively looking for other premises. Unless something changes rapidly, I, along with many other businesses, will be leaving,” he said.
“There’s a snowball effect. The fewer businesses there are, the fewer customers come into town. It makes the city feel like an empty husk, and it’s hard to reverse that once it starts.
“Many fantastic businesses have opened up, but they couldn’t survive. It’s not because they were bad businesses – it’s because of the taxes, the services, and the declining foot traffic through Dublin.”
