The Workman's Club

The Workman's Club
10 Wellington Quay, Dublin 2
theworkmansclub.com


The Workman's is the inevitable Friday night destination for a lot of people in Dublin. Sure, the music might be the same every single week and it can become a bit of a sweatbox. But their generous rum and ginger beer is a fiver, it's a staple dancing spot and it's good for a gig every now and again.


What has it got?

Seating: There are a number of tables with moveable chairs and there are some delicious red PVC couches fixed to the wall in the venue space. 

Doors: The doors are wide enough to fit a wheelchair but it can get very busy so the doors into the bar and the venue can be a bit of a bottleneck. 

Ground: The floors are all wooden. 

Stairs: There are no steps into the main door and you have flat access to the bar and music venue. There is a flight of (steep) stairs down to the ladies and gents and some very rickety stairs up the second bar and smoking area. 

Bathrooms: Unfortunately, there is no wheelchair bathroom in the Workman's but The Clarence Hotel next door has a swanky wheelchair bathroom that you can use. 

Spaciousness: This place can get rammed very early on in the night and the mentioned bottlenecks can be a bit of a pain.

Helpfulness of Staff: The bouncers can be very helpful when it comes to getting you through the crowd, especially if you're at a gig. 

Parking: There is a wheelchair parking spot a couple of doors down.

Rating: 6/10

Why did it lose points? The lack of a wheelchair bathroom is an issue because you have to go next door to use another establishment's toilet. This is a problem for two reasons: 1) If people are using crutches and can't use stairs, the extra hike to The Clarence next door isn't an advantage and 2) At nighttime, it's not ideal to have to go outside to a different venue to use the bathroom for safety reasons or if the weather is crap, well, that's no fun for anyone. 

At the weekends, every floor is open to customers but if you arrive on a quieter night, the downstairs bar is closed meaning that someone in a wheelchair, or someone that doesn't like rickety stairs, can't go in.