Those heading out to enjoy Dublin’s nightlife over the weekend have been warned to be vigilant, due to apparent ‘fake’ bouncers ‘working’ at some of the capital’s top bars.
In a Twitter post last week, one woman detailed how she was out in town ahead of Good Friday, when the bouncers at a bar on Middle Abbey Street asked her for ID.
The post read: “[On Thursday] I went to Wigwam. [I] got IDd on the way in [and] didn’t think anything of it. My mate got the same but there was this guy harassing her as she came in the door.
“This was really upsetting so she said it to the bartender, and he was like ‘We don’t have anyone at the door tonight’, so he went out to speak to them and kicked them out.
“So basically, there were men, grown middle-aged men, out with one [other man] dressed as a bouncer solely to take advantage of women.”
Speaking to Dublin Gazette, a representative from Bodytonic, which owns Wigwam and several other Dublin venues, said that it will be taking immediate steps to ensure incidents such as these are prevented.
The spokesperson said: “We try to make Wigwam as comfortable and inclusive for everyone as we can, and as soon as this was pointed out to us we immediately set out to take steps to make sure that something like this doesn’t happen again.
“The men at the door in question definitely were not our staff. We can’t apologise enough to the girls, and we’ll be taking this incident very seriously.”
Following the initial tweet, other Twitter users said that they have encountered similar incidents at other bars, both in the city centre and in the capital’s suburbs.
Another woman said that she went to the Wiley Fox on Eden Quay recently, where something similar happened to her and a group of friends.
Initially, she posted, the group laughed it off – until one of her friends realised that her full address was on her driver’s licence.
“[This] happened to me and my friends before going into the Wiley Fox, and after we all gave our IDs the guys laughed and said they weren’t bouncers, and we were kind of laughing too until my friend realised that [they would] now know her full address from her driver’s license,” the post read.
A spokesperson for the Wiley Fox said: “We are very sorry to hear about this. It’s the first we’ve heard about it and have no record of this being reported to any member of staff. We will do our very best to find out more information.”
When contacted by Dublin Gazette, a spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said: “If people find themselves in any situation that they feel a crime has occurred, they should report it to their local garda station.
“All matters reported to An Garda Siochana are followed up accordingly and investigated if needed.”
