Almost two weeks after the announcement that The Bernard Shaw will be closing its doors at Portobello in October after 13 years, news has emerged that the pub will be reopening in Dublin's northside.
The new Bernard Shaw will take over The Porterhouse Whitworth, at Cross Guns Bridge in Drumcondra. "We are pretty much transplanting everything we do at the Bernard Shaw to there," Bodytonic's Trevor O’Shea told The Irish Times.
"Some things won’t fit - we don’t have loads of wall space for art. There is indoor and outdoor space, but it is smaller. We will launch it the same weekend we close here [The Bernard Shaw]. We might keep the name, or start with a new name, we are not sure yet."
The news of the closure of The Bernard Shaw rightfully caused a huge backlash (read our piece about it here) as more and more venues across the capital are being closed in favour of hotels.
Bodytonic's Beatyard festival and their Wine and Cheese Festival will also be faced with location moves next year.
“It’s very difficult when you’re running something and you are doing a decent job and you’re told you can’t do it again, " Trevor adds. "We are living in tough times at the moment in terms of trying to put on good events and make good spaces happen. We need to find new places to be creative, which means taking risks, going to places that won’t have as much footfall, building things up again."
