Agenda item

            The Committee was advised that a request had been received from the applicant, Mr. S. Magorrian, for his item to be taken first due to a family commitment.  The Committee acceded to the request.

            The Director of Planning and Building Control provided the Committee with the details of the applicationfor a 14-Day Occasional Outdoor Entertainments Licence for St. Anne’s Cathedral Car Park (South side), based on the Council’s standard conditions to provide outdoor musical entertainment, primarily for use during Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann from 2nd to 9th August, 2026.

The day and hours that outdoor musical entertainment was proposed to be provided were Monday to Sunday, 11.30am to 12:00 am.  The applicant proposed to provide non-amplified music in the space.

As entertainment was proposed to be provided beyond the standard finishing time for outdoor musical entertainment, if granted, a special condition would be added to the licence relating to the sole provision of non-amplified musical entertainment.

She outlined that St Anne’s Cathedral was within the road closure pedestrianised area for the Fleadh Cheoil.  The applicant wished to host entertainment in line with the Fleadh’s traditional music entertainment offering in the outdoor area.

The Committee was reminded that the following conditions were attached to Outdoor Entertainments Licences:

·       Maximum numbers would be agreed at the discretion of the Building Control service and would vary depending on the individual entertainment proposals.

·       Prior to entertainment taking place, the licensee was required to demonstrate evidence of early consultation with the Building Control service and have in place a robust system for dealing with complaints. This was to be agreed in advance.

·       Should an application to provide entertainment beyond 11.00 pm be granted and the Council then receive a significant number of complaints regarding noise or the complaint was of such significant impact, authority was granted to the Director of Planning and Building Control, in consultation with the City Solicitor, to reduce the finishing time for any subsequent nights of the event, in which case the promoter would be required to make contingency arrangements.

The Committee was advised that public notice of the application had been placed in the newspaper, and no representations had been received as a result.

The Director advised the Committee that the police had been consulted in relation to the application, however, a response had not yet been received. Should Members be minded to approve the Grant of the Outdoor Entertainments licence, it should be subject to a satisfactory response from the PSNI on the matter.

Officers had engaged with the event organisers and colleagues in the Fleadh events team in relation to the proposed use of the space and would participate in pre-event meetings.  An event management plan had also been received.

The Chairperson advised the Committee that the applicant, Mr. Magorrian, was in attendance to answer any questions, however, no queries were raised.

The Committee agreed to approve the application for the grant of the 14-Day Occasional Outdoor Entertainments Licence, subject to any special conditions considered necessary by officers and to all technical requirements being met, and to extend the hours of entertainment to 12:00am; and agreed that non-amplified musical entertainment be permitted to take place to 12:00am on all nights, 2nd – 9th August, 2026, inclusive.