Owner of the Clockwork Door in Temple Bar has said that the venue does not feel "safe or confident" taking part in the event.

Temple Bar venue and Timehouse The Clockwork Door has announced it will not be partaking in Culture Night this Friday, due to the rising antisocial behaviour and "lawlessness" in Dublin's city centre. This is the first time in six years the venue will opt out of the city-wide event, and owner Ciaran Hogan has said he did not make the decision lightly. "I made this decision after a lot of thought, i saw a huge push of policing in the city once it was a major media talking point, but as soon as it had left the news cycle all the policing was removed. This shows they have no commitment to long term change of the worsening situation," Mr Hogan told Lovin. The business owner added that a long term effort is needed to rejuvenate the city centre, not a "short term show of effort that disappears after 2 weeks". Last year, the Clockwork Door had expensive equipment stolen from their Temple Bar venue on Culture Night, with Mr Hogan stating that despite CCTV footage of the incident and positive identification of those involved nothing was done. While the venue will be bowing out from this years happening, Mr Hogan has insisted that he doesn't wish to take away from the hard work organisers have put in, adding: "they're all great people, doing a great thing it is not on them how policing in the city has failed us." Culture Night takes place this Friday, 22nd September, at venues across Dublin. The Clockwork Door's escape rooms will still be available to book, but the venue will not be open to the public. Header image via Instagram/The Clockwork Door READ NEXT:  - Gunshots, fire, and karaoke: The Bodyguard Musical is simply spectacular - Dublin one of the cities most obsessed with botox according to new data - Cars banned and more cycle space - main takeaways from the 2023 Dublin Transport Plan