TRINITY HOSPITALITY, THE owner of the property leased by the Hoxton Hotel, and nightclub Yamamori Izakaya have reached an agreement after a months-long noise dispute.
Trinity Hospitality sought an injunction against the George’s Street nightclub in the High Court in February, claiming late-night music from Yamamori Izakaya forced it to close 31 rooms and to incur up to €300,000 in losses.
Today, on the second day of the two-day trial, Judge Oisín Quinn granted both parties time to talk before the court resumed after break.
Gareth Compton of Compton Solicitors, acting for Yamamori, had requested 10 minutes for his team and the William Fry legal team acting for Trinity Hospitality, to talk. He added that they might have “good news”.
Barrister Andrew Walker, for Trinity Hospitality, said “the matter is resolved” when the parties returned to court.
He asked Quinn to make no orders for costs, and requested orders to stay the proceedings and liberty to apply. Compton and Walker both thanked the judge.
Quinn made the requested orders and commended both parties for reaching an agreement.
“They are commercial neighbours, if they can reach an agreement in a difficult and challenging situation, that’s always the most preferred outcome,” Quinn said.
Noise dispute
Before the agreement was reached, the court heard from Barrister Andrew Walker, for Trinity Hospitality, who said it wants sound measuring meters to record the level of music played in Yamamori to ensure it is not exceeded.
Barrister Andrew Walker, for Trinity Hospitality, said these meters, as well as noise limiters already installed in Yamamori, will allow the nightclub to “play music for as long as it likes, just to a certain level”.
He said his clients want noise from the nightclub to be reduced to 75 decibels instead of the 90 decibels which was previously recorded on the ground floor of the nightclub when 99 decibels were recorded in the basement.
Walker said the “reason for the noise nuisance” is because Yamamori moved the nightclub from the basement of its premises to the first floor, so the basement could be refurbished.
He also said that, since March, the nightclub has “done nothing to facilitate a resolution”.
Eventually, Judge Quinn told Walker he had gone over the time he said he would take to make his arguments.
“I have twice asked, I won’t be asking again, for you to bring me to a particular element of the case,” Quinn said.
Walker said the major issue is the capacity of Yamamori to meet the “€10,000 a night” losses they say are owed to them.
Judge Quinn asked Walker if there is evidence the financial situation of Yamamori has deteriorated since the latest account provided, which Walker said are “historical”.
“I don’t know, I simply don’t know,” Walker said.
Compton then briefly made an address to the court before break.
He criticised comments made by Trinity Hospitality’s legal team in court on Thursday that “nightclubs come and go and Yamamori is not a cultural institution”.
He said that these comments didn’t correspond with what Trinity Hospitality had previously said about the nightclub in media statements.
He also said Trinity Hospitality sought to achieve “inaudibility” and wished to decide which standards should be used to decide what noise levels are permissible.