Long-running Temple Bar head shop calls it a day

ONE of the longest-running head shops has closed.

The Head Shop, located beside the Central Bank, in Dublin’s Temple Bar, has shut after more than five years in operation.

The owners recently boarded up the shop-front completely. The following day the board was spray-painted with the words, “Another victory for hysteria”.

Local shop owners said the shop just suddenly closed and there was no word from the people who ran it as to why.

“There were two guys who ran it, very nice fellas. Then it just closed,” said one shop owner.

He said the shop, unlike many of the newer head stores, kept close-to-normal business hours and did not open late.

Retailers said the shop, located on Fownes Street Upper, shut on April 8 and the graffiti went up the next day.

Another head shop on Camden Street, just a mile south, was due to open in recent weeks after being refurbished and refitted. However, the shop never opened and the name Camden Head Shop was taken down from the front.

A number of head shops still operating have taken extra precautions following the spate of arson attacks in recent months.

The Nirvana head shop on South William Street, parallel to Grafton Street, now operates a buzzer system at the door during daylight hours. People have to wait to be let in.

The Nirvana store on Capel Street in the north inner city was completely destroyed in an arson attack last February.

Last week, a car was parked and set alight outside a head shop in Balbriggan, north Dublin, causing damage. The week before, a head store in Dundalk was petrol-bombed.

Head stores will come under pressure when the Government’s ban on a range of head shop products comes into effect in mid-July.

The Government is also drawing up legislation with the intention of banning the sale of any mind-altering substance.