Great bit of old-skool goss from the My Little Piebald newsletter:

::: Old raver news: Asylum reunion busted by pigs :::

An improptu reunion rave was held recently in the building on Sackville Place where the Asylum nightclub used to be in the early 1990s. The Asylum only lasted a few brief years before being closed down, but it was easily Dublin’s maddest club at the time. Old ravers speak with a mixture of awe and terror about the goings on at the club:

• The manager of the Asylum and three bouncers were jailed for selling drugs at the door of the club. Pills cost £25 each at the time, but one doorman called Stabber Doyle would helpfully bite off a half for you if that’s all you could afford.

• A 17-year-old was shot in the stomach just outside the club after getting in a row with someone inside. There were also persistent rumours about a gun being fired in the air from the middle of the dancefloor one night.

• There was an upstairs room known as ‘the shooting gallery’ where junkies used to inject gear into themselves

The recent reunion, or The Awakening, as the organisers called it, featured many of the DJs who used to play in the Asylum. However, it was sadly raided by the pigs before the ageing ravers could get up a proper head of steam. Hundreds of people were expected to attend, but the over-excited swine set up road blocks all over sackville place, killing the thing off pretty much entirely. Here’s some footage of the rave being busted by the pigs. Also - hilarious Prime Time feature on Ecstasy use in Ireland from around the same period, featuring interviews with some of Ireland’s first rave mongrels.

Ah, brings me back — I went there a few times raving back in the 90s, including one memorable Trainspotting-style trip to the jacks. What a fucking dodgy kip!

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