INDEX Club Relocates Again, as Dublin Nightlife Struggles to Survive  

On Valentine’s Day, INDEX relaunched its nightclub on Middle Abbey Street – its celebration kicked off in the Academy with London-born DJ Sammy Virgi and American DJ and record producer MK performing at the highly anticipated launch party. 

Known for incessant relocations, instead of closing for good like many of its competitors, INDEX rejoins the mere 25 active clubs left in Dublin by moving to a bigger capacity venue. This is expected to lead to an increase in demand and prices for tickets due to its previous popularity. 

The house and techno club has been up and running in Smithfield since 2017 and has seen numerous changes in management, venues, promoters, performers, and most notably, names in its time. It was formerly coined 30/40 before rebranding to Here & Now and then Voodoo Lounge before landing on INDEX.

Irrespective of their switch in ownership, location, and name, they carry their community with them with each major change. The reputation which they have curated throughout the years has cemented their brand in Dublin’s social scene with their recognisable name and techno genre. The club has seen significant success since COVID-19 and has prolonged its success through these rebrandings. 

The city is bursting with lively bars and traditional pubs; but where have all the nightclubs gone? In short, many nightclubs have been forced to shut down thanks to Irish licensing laws, noise complaints, and, of course, the rise in property prices and rent. Therefore, the few spaces that remain are deemed all the more valuable and subsequently much more expensive to run, hence the success of INDEX’s relaunch. Young people are desperate for nightlife and their options are limited. 

In the year 2000, there were at least 100 nightclubs and bars in the county. That number has since dropped by a staggering 75% in the past 25 years. So, what is the issue with the lack of social scenes in the city centre? I spoke to independent DJ Clara Tyrrell about her opinions on the decline of Dublin’s nightlife and how it is affecting local DJs. She says Ireland is “the worst place for work.” 

“At the moment, DJ-ing is my job and I’m completely limited to the five or so places to play in. I can’t expect to be playing every weekend due to how sparse job opportunities are. So, myself and any other DJs can’t make enough money, we can’t go out and we really can’t enjoy ourselves either. I just can’t make a living out of it.

“It has gotten to the point where there are so little nightclubs in Dublin that there are no DJ’s that I know personally that can fully rely on performing as their only form of income,” she continued. “For me, I am doing it because I am in my final year of college and because I really do love what I do. The only reason I am accepting it is because I don’t have the spare time for another job even though DJ-ing does take up a lot of time with song and setlist preparation.” 

INDEX, Tyrrell said, “mainly only hire big international acts to gather a larger crowd so it would be rare that their acts would be locally sourced from Ireland. There are definitely not enough nightclubs to discover independent or local Irish artists and it’s such a shame because there is so much hidden talent here.” 

As we have seen, INDEX constantly takes the opportunity to think outside the box and explore new locations rather than close shop for good. With glowing reviews from their opening night, there is a high chance that INDEX will set up shop on Middle Abbey Street for the foreseeable future.