Hot on heels of raids, city’s latest club opens its doors

THE men behind Cork’s latest lapdancing venture were set to go ahead with plans to open for business last night, within 24-hours of garda raids on similar clubs nationwide.

Last-minute preparations for the first night of Secrets, a club over the former Brewery Tap bar on Leitrim Street, were being finalised as over 100 were arrested in other lapdancing clubs around the country.

The clubs raided were in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Dundalk.

It was all part of Operation Quest, a crackdown on clubs believed to be employing illegal immigrants.

A garda spokesperson said the investigation had been underway for the past three months.

But that didn’t worry Tom Donegan last night. The marketing manager for Secrets, the club over the bar renamed as Cheers in Leitrim Street, was looking forward to a full house on opening night.

“Obviously, we did not expect this situation but the gardaí are more than welcome to our building,” he said.

Mr Donegan is the former manager of the Angels lapdancing club at the Great Escape bar, also on Leitrim Street, and one of the clubs raided by gardaí.

Eleven women were questioned by gardaí at the Angels club.

Mr Donegan declined to comment on that raid but was anxious to emphasise that Secrets is a legitimate business determined to stay on the right side of the law.

“In fact, in all the interviews for dancers that we have been conducting over the past few days we have been very careful.

“We specifically asked if they are eligible to work in Ireland. We don’t want to break the law.”

During Thursday night’s garda raids, staff were questioned about visa documentation.

Gardaí say a number of people have been charged under the Alien’s Order, others have had their Alien’s Registration status withdrawn while some will have their status reviewed.

At least five clubs in Dublin were raided, including one well-known premises trading, like its Cork counterpart, under the name Angels. Files are expected to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Secrets club was packing them in late last night despite the garda raids elsewhere and the 10 cover charge.