Published
Sat, Nov 19, 2022, 09:00
- Funded by RA, Transforming Nightlife in Northern Ireland is the first in a series of research papers focused on the night-time economy.
New research from non-profit campaign group Free The Night has outlined 13 recommendations for improving nightlife in Northern Ireland.
Titled "Transforming Nightlife in Northern Ireland" and funded by Resident Advisor, the research is the first in a series of papers focused on improving local nightlife.
Some of the suggestions include recognising nightlife as culture and as a community-building tool, improving nightlife infrastructure, valuing nightlife workers, diversifying late-night socialising options and promoting effective safety and monitoring initiatives.
It also advocates the introduction of "night-time advisor roles," using the example of London's night czar to justify this, and asked for a greater awareness of the importance of community health.
The research, which consisted of surveys, case studies and freedom-of-information requests, found that three quarters of people in Northern Ireland use nightlife as a means of experiencing music, art and culture. 92 percent believe more night-time public transport is necessary and 84 percent want later operating hours for nightclubs.
The paper was launched at the annual Music Cities Event in Belfast on Wednesday, November 16th. A panel discussion followed involving researcher Ciara Power, Bristol night-time economy advisor Carly Heath, producer and studio owner Ryan McFarlane and Free The Night founders Holly Lester and Boyd Sleator.
"While this is only the beginning for us in terms of developing research on Northern Irish nightlife, I think this body of work is a brilliant place to start for anyone who is interested in better nightlife for Northern Ireland, whether that's as a user, worker, stakeholder or policymaker," said Lester. "We hope that this document will help bring about some serious change in the coming years."
Read the report in full.
