Debate contribution: Belfast's Night-time Economy

Debate contribution by Mr Matthew O'Toole on 4 February 2025.

MLA

Mr Matthew O'Toole

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

4 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Belfast's Night-time Economy

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4779669

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I am thrilled to speak about the Belfast night-time economy. I would like to claim some personal expertise on the subject, although, unfortunately, not as much these days as, perhaps, I had in the past. Like other people, I am getting older, and having young kids means that I do not get the opportunity to enjoy it as much as I would like, but I do occasionally. I am also a representative of the city, and I spent a significant portion of my earlier working life working in pubs and the hospitality sector. It is something that I have devoted some time to as a politician since I was elected. First, I will put it context. Belfast's night-time economy is hugely important to Northern Ireland as a whole. It generates over £2 billion. To give it an historic context, in the darkest of days, as Members have said, Belfast city centre and some of the pubs, nightlife and clubs that managed to stay open really were a meeting point for people from different backgrounds, not just those from the traditional green or orange backgrounds. People from LGBT backgrounds, the punk community, the folk community and people in the dance scene got to know one another. They danced, enjoyed music together and had a few drinks in the middle of Belfast at a time when things were very difficult. We are now beyond that conflict, thank God, but we are still not doing enough to support the amazing night-time economy in Belfast. It is important to say that, in lots of places, parts of the night-time economy are under threat. Some habits are clearly changing post COVID, such as how people consume drink and interact with one another, but that does not mean that people do not want an enthusiastic night out or great spaces in which to enjoy music and come together. It is concerning that, in Belfast and other places, music venues and nightclubs are closing. Some people are facing a bit of a crisis. If you saw my dancing, you would say that there is a crisis there. Not subjecting people to that vision may be a good thing, but the loss of clubs is a serious issue, whether that relates to live music or dance music. We need to pursue a huge range of policy interventions. There has been some progress with night buses in Belfast, but we need to see more. It is not the Minister's direct responsibility — it is for her new colleague — but, given her old role and given that the Minister's colleague is from the same party, she may be able to nudge that along to get clarity, as Mr Brett said, on rolling, long-term funding for night buses. Until coming to this job, I spent a large part of my adult life in London, where I fell asleep on many night buses. One of the great experiences of night buses in London was falling asleep and finding out where you would wake up. I should probably not say that, because it will be reported by Hansard. One of the most important drivers of the night-time economy is the ability to get home. At the minute, we have a bit of a problem. When I say "a bit of a problem", I mean a major problem. People who go into Belfast city centre for a night out, not just people who come in from Lurgan, Lisburn or Bangor but people who live down the Ormeau Road, up the Antrim Road or on the Falls Road think, "How do I get home tonight? Do I have a taxi? Is there a night bus?".

We need to increase the number of taxis. There is an issue with licences and how we dispense them and make that system work. There is also an issue with getting available and durable night buses.

There are some other issues. It is clear that we have a distinct licensing system, which I have talked about a bit in the Chamber. A review of that is due at some point, but there clearly is not a huge amount of flexibility in it. Hopefully, some proposals will come forward on that. It is critical —

— that we support the sector in every way possible. I look forward to hearing from the Minister —

— about specific policy interventions. Thank you.

731 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:53 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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