Free The Night launches legal action following Northern Irish licensing reform rejection

Nightlife campaigners Free The Night have initiated the first stage of a legal challenge to the Minister for Communities’ response to Northern Ireland’s independent licensing review.

Published in August 2024, the Stirling review cost £500,000 and took an in-depth, impartial look at existing legislation around pubs, bars, clubs and other premises licensed to serve alcohol. Taking into consideration economic, social, public health, customer demand and safety factors, 26 areas were put forward which would benefit from legislative reform.

One suggested reform was abolishing of the so-called “surrender principle”, limits the total number of licensed premises permitted in Northern Ireland. Any new venue must first obtain an existing license from a business which is winding down. Critics argue that not only is this outdated, but it unfairly penalises independent and community-owned operations, while favouring larger companies. In November, the government rejected this and other key suggestions in the report.

Submitting a pre-action protocol letter to the Department for Communities and its Minister Gordon Lyons, the first step towards litigation, Free the Night cites a number of shortcomings in the decision-making process. These include “giving undue weight” to “wrongfully received” evidence from a third party not involved in the review, specifically industry body Hospitality Ulster, while ignoring the report’s official findings. 

“This was a real opportunity to transform nightlife in Northern Ireland, and it’s been wasted. An independent review was commissioned, a huge amount of public money was spent, and in the end, the Minister has chosen to maintain the status quo,” said Holly Lester, co-founder of Free the Night. 

“That decision affects so many aspects of nightlife, including how many venues and nightclubs we have, whether pop-ups and festivals are viable, even down to the price of a pint,” she continued. “This has been building for decades, and it’s become impossible to ignore. Creatives and entrepreneurs have been leaving in their droves, opportunities are shrinking, and our talent is draining away because the system makes it too hard to stay.”

Free the Night also suggests that as licensing laws stand, they are “fundamentally anti-competitive” and impact independent artists, breweries, and business owners”. Further objections include a failure to consult Northern Ireland’s Department for Economy on its own estimated cost impacts of changes to the law. If successful, the case could quash the government’s decision.

“The current system isn’t fair,” added Free the Night’s other co-founder, Boyd Sleator. “If you want to open a new venue or build a cultural space, you’re forced to buy an existing licence, which can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds, and even then, you’re not guaranteed anything. You can still be stalled or blocked by objections from the people already in the market. 

“So it’s not just one-in, one-out,” he continued. “It’s one-in, then fight your way through a process where incumbents have the time, resources and incentives to keep new entrants out. That’s not a level playing field, and it’s why independents and community-led spaces struggle to get off the ground here.”