The Grill Music Venue, also known as The Grill, formerly The Golden Grill, was a nightclub located in

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

, in

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. Regarded as the unofficial

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christian- ...

headquarters,"Fianna Fail favourite haunt the Golden Grill 'to reopen'"
''Irish Independent'', 27 September 2008. it has hosted Fianna Fáil party conventions and bingo sessions over the years. The complex housed six bars. DJs and live acts to have performed at the Grill times include

Hot Chip Hot Chip are an English synthpop band formed in London in 1995. The group consists of multi-instrumentalists Alexis Taylor, Joe Goddard, Al Doyle, Owen Clarke, and Felix Martin. They are occasionally joined by former member Rob Smoughton for ...

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

Shane MacGowan Shane Patrick Lysaght MacGowan (born 25 December 1957) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer and songwriter of Celtic punk band the Pogues. He was also a member of the Nipple Erectors and Shane MacGo ...

, Dirty Sanchez, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Paul Van Dyk,

Judge Jules Julius O'Riordan (born 1966), better known by his stage name Judge Jules, is a British dance music DJ, record producer and entertainment lawyer. He is known for his DJ activities, music production and long-running radio show which achieved glob ...

Republic of Loose Republic of Loose were an Irish funk rock band from Dublin. Formed in 2001, the band formerly consisted of lead vocalist Mick Pyro, bass guitarist and vocalist Benjamin Loose, keyboardist Deco, guitarists and vocalists Dave Pyro and Brez and d ...

, Ocean Colour Scene and Chuck Berry.

History

Established by former

Senator

Bernard McGlinchey Bernard McGlinchey (18 October 1932 – 11 April 2013) was an Irish businessman and Fianna Fáil politician. He was a member of Seanad Éireann from 1961 to 1981, and from 1982 to 1983. Early life McGlinchey was born to Patrick McGlinchey and h ...

, the venue first opened in 1961. A success factor for the complex was its 1,000 car parking spaces. Bellas Club was founded in the seventies and the Millionaire Club opened in the eighties. Forty-six years after it first opened, the entertainment complex underwent a €2 million refurbishment. 21 Spaces, a Dublin-based, Donegal-owned interior design company, designed the newly refurbished complex. Since its refurbishment the venue now houses six bars and two smoking areas.

Licence disputes

In 2004, Bernard McGlinchey revealed to the ''

Donegal News The ''Donegal News'' (also known as ''Derry People/Donegal News'' and formerly ''Derry People'') is a twice-weekly local newspaper in the northwest of the island of Ireland, first published in 1902. Originally covering Derry, Northern Ireland, it ...

'' how he was able to license the premises. He stated the law had been against him as, in the 1960s, a licence-holder needed to prove the population of the parish area had increased by 33%. This was disputed, as at the time he was in the Seanad and former Taoiseach Charles Haughey was

Minister for Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

and had set about finalising the new Liquor Act and inserted a clause which changed the law for urban areas. In March 2008, the Grill Music Venue was raided by the

Garda Síochána (; meaning "the Guardian(s) of the Peace"), more commonly referred to as the Gardaí (; "Guardians") or "the Guards", is the national police service of Ireland. The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Gover ...

. Gardaí seized alcohol they believed was being sold without a licence under Section 24 of the 1874 Licensing Act. The management of the venue subsequently renewed their licence and took court action to recover tens of thousands of euros worth of drink seized from the premises by Gardaí.

Sale of premises

The Grill remained shut unexpectedly on the weekend of the 2 and 3 August 2008. This is a public holiday in Ireland and is known to be one of the busiest throughout the year. It was later revealed that the business had been placed on the property market after confirmation that it had gone into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

with debts to the value of €8.2 million. Advertisements announcing the sale of the premises by private treaty appeared in weekend newspapers. The premises re-opened under company name Golden Grill Letterkenny Ltd. after the local Tinney family bought the venue."Tinneys to reopen Grill soon"
, ''Donegal News'', 3 October 2008.

Performances

The Grill Music Venue has played host to a number of international bands and DJs including:

References

External links

Official website
{{coord missing, County Donegal Buildings and structures in Letterkenny Music venues in the Republic of Ireland Nightclubs in the Republic of Ireland Organisations based in Letterkenny Music venues completed in 1961