Stringfellows closes after five months

IT OPENED in a blaze of controversy and publicity, promising to offer ‘high class entertainment’, but just five months later, Peter Stringfellow’s Dublin lapdancing club has closed its doors because of a lack of trade.

Those who campaigned against the club, including Dublin’s Deputy Lord Mayor Aodhán Ó Riordáin, said they were “delighted” with the news.

Peter Stringfellow was less expansive. His public relations people issued a statement yesterday blaming the closure on the protests, and the failure to open in November because of a licensing wrangle which caused it to miss the Christmas rush.

The club has been dogged by controversy since it opened and plagued with stories about low attendances over the past five months. Customers were charged €30 for a three-minute private dance.

Mr Stringfellow put a brave face on the closure.

“It is with disappointment that we learned of the closure of the Stringfellows venture in Ireland,” he said.

“It is particularly unfortunate because of the success the club had been enjoying recently.”

Mr Stringfellow denied he had any financial interest in the Sabley Taverns Ltd business which was operating the club. He added that he hoped the club could start trading again at a later date.

A statement from Sabley Taverns Ltd said the near-nightly protests had led to the loss of the vital corporate market and that despite success in recent weeks, the company was no longer in a position to meet its financial obligations.

However, the news was warmly welcomed by those who have led the protests over the past five months.

Ó Riordáin, who helped organise the protests, said the closure of the Parnell Street strip club was good news for the local area.

“I campaigned against it because it was in a residential area so I am delighted it has closed,” he said.

“Having a strip close to Dominic Street does not help our attempts to regenerate that part of Dublin as a thriving residential area. I think the protests highlighted the fact that this is a residential area and that people are proud of it and I am sure the protests had something to do with the closure”.