From Colonialism to Catholicism to Carbon Student Nightclub

Nightlife culture has been at the heart of many city's culture for many years, and provides economic, social, community and cultural benefits. Galway used to be a city with a varied and defined nightlife culture, but this changed in the early 2010s following the 2008 financial crisis. This research focuses on the reasons for this decline and the consequences felt by the city as a result. To gain insights, data was collected from twelve semi structured interviews with various stakeholders in the Irish nightlife scene. From the data, it is clear that the historical context of Ireland has resulted in Galway's nightlife decline. This is mostly through the lasting impact of colonialism and the Catholic Church on the mindset and activities of the Irish people. The impact of colonialism is felt through the fact that Ireland has developed a culture based on alcohol due to the wiping out of indigenous culture at this time, which leads to an overall negative perception and link to alcohol culture acts as a barrier to further nightlife development. Another key contribution to nightlife decline is the impact of the Catholic Church on legislation regulating nightlife spaces. Other key factors identified were the financial dependency on alcohol sales, lack of appreciation of nightlife culture as a legitimate culture form, overall negative perception of nightlife and lack of care of the Irish government. The major consequences of nightlife decline in Galway is that the city has only one purpose built club venue. The economic, social, community and cultural benefits are also not realised to their full potential due to nightlife decline. Despite the issues the development of nightlife culture faces in Galway, the scene shows a strong resistance through the use of alternative venue spaces to throw parties in, as well as the strong communities that form alongside such parties. This study contributes to the understanding of nightlife culture in Galway, as well as the industry surrounding it. It also highlights the importance of nightlife and its associated benefits within the city of Galway.