Pygmalion, one of Dublin’s busiest bars, announce they are dropping their usual entry fees and are asking for homeless charity donations instead.
The announcement comes as the team behind the bar want to do something to help combat the growing homeless crisis in the city, which they witness every day as a central Dublin venue.
Iconic Dublin bar Pygmalion, or as better-known by trendy Dublin bar-goers as ‘Pyg’, have decided to drop all entry fees for the remainder of January, and hopefully longer. The announcement is quite a big deal as Pygmalion is the Dublin hub for the electronic music scene here. The entry costs are being completely axed as the owners instead want club-goers to donate the same entry fee to the Peter McVerry Trust instead. This waived entry fee also extends to ticketed events, even for well-known international DJ’s that have been confirmed for the weeks ahead. Their full line up of acts has just been announced and it features some of Ireland’s most loved DJ’s, as well as talent from Europe, South America and Asia (view line up here).
This is not actually the first time the South William Street venue has launched this initiative; it was first introduced by them back in 2020. Pygmalion is reengaging the initiative after it was cut short by the pandemic. A period of time that was detrimental to all hospitality and music venues, today they feel able to continue to support and help tackle the city’s homeless crisis in this way, a situation which they state is so noticeably worse now than when they first introduced this back in 2020. Something they never thought could happen.
Pygmalion Group owner, Paul McGlade Jnr, says: “The initial idea was warmly received with our customers in 2020 and with homeless figures at an all-time high today, we felt it was time to reintroduce this idea and help to raise funds and awareness once again for our city’s homeless crisis. It also gives our patrons the opportunity to help this great charity a little, which generally there’s a really warm response to.”
“We’re in here, in central town every day, and it’s so evident on the streets every day and even more so at night time. We have to remind ourselves not to get complacent about it, as we so much of it every day. When we have international DJ’s arrive from abroad, and they nearly always comment on how bad it is here, that always acts as a stark reminder.”
“I think so many of us in Dublin want to do our part to help but more importantly just desperately want to see this ongoing homeless crisis come to an end in our city”.
The Irish Homeless Report for November 2022 showed that 8,048 adults and 3,494 children needed beds. Pygmalion are not asking patrons to directly swap the entry fee for the exact same donation amount given to the charity instead, but are asking them to give what they can. 100% of all donations will go directly to the Peter McVerry Trust and patrons can give by contactless payments at the door or while booking tickets online. The dropped fees and charity partnership will run for the entire month of January, and after this the owners want to continue it, if they can.
Pat Doyle, CEO of Peter McVerry Trust said in response to this announcement: “It’s fantastic to see initiatives like this in January – typically a quieter month for donations after Christmas. We’re very grateful to the team at Pygmalion for choosing our charity and for highlighting the issue of homelessness to a younger audience. The money raised will enable us to help more people to leave homelessness behind for good.”
To help counteract any notions of January blues, the bar, which is much loved for their supreme ‘Pygtails’ have also announced a discount of up to 20% on all food and drinks. The iconic venue is always the best night out in Dublin because of its mix of house music, high-quality yet affordable food and drink offering and eclectic crowd.
Their January special will see all pints served drop below €6, for example. A pint price-point now almost impossible to find in the capital. As prices continue to rise for almost everything in this expensive city – Pygmalion have decided to do the opposite, hopefully adding a pep in your step and ensuring a great night out is still to be had this January, of course while simultaneously being able to help support the homeless in Dublin and nationwide.
Also returning for 2023 is the much loved Pyg Sundays party with up to 40% off all drinks, which will run every Sunday for the remainder of the year.
For more details you can check out Pygmalion on Instagram here.
