A TECH COMPANY booked out seven pubs, and a barbershop on Dame Lane last night to entertain guests at an IT conference. 

All of the pubs were turned into open bars, with food going for free for those attending too. 

From around 6pm to 11pm, most of Dame Lane became a private, mini Temple Bar for employees and guests of Kaseya, a US-founded IT Solutions company (valued at $2bn), that was in town for its Dattacon Europe conference over in the Convention Centre. 

Today, publicans were tight-lipped on the obvious question that comes to mind: how much exactly would that set you back? 

The man pulling pints in the self-described “family owned boozer” Dame Tavern professed that he knew nothing, though he claimed that extra was paid to bigger venues, and those that offered food (Dame Tavern offered a pizza menu in partnership with Pi Pizza). 

A regular at the bar told The Journal today that the conference goers were from “all over Europe, the States, just a few Irish”. 

“I came for my usual after work pint and couldn’t get in, so I sussed it out,” he said. 

This reporter braved the sunshine to visit the pubs that took part including DisnDat, JT Pimms, the Stag’s Head, The Voyager, 4 Dame Lane, and The Bankers Bar. 

Publicans were hesitant to estimate an overall cost for the shindig. 

The collective word on the street, however, is that we’re talking “somewhere in the region of half a million euros, once you factor in what the bars were paid, the entertainment, and the security.” 

The venues were paid varying fees, and live entertainment was put on in all of them. At one stage, Irish dancers put on a show in the middle of the lane. 

In Sam’s Barbers, the manager Mark told The Journal that the whole thing was pretty tame. 

“We were flat out from 2pm until 11pm at night. We must have done between 50 and 60 haircuts. They were a friendly bunch, and no one was in a bad way, actually,” he said. 

It’s understood all this came about a few months ago when a man who worked for an events company popped into a few of the bars on the street to inquire about whether they’d be interested. 

A meeting of publicans was convened, and the terms and conditions were agreed. 

Two bars that weren’t open when the man called around missed out, unfortunately. 

“It’s never happened before that someone has rented out the whole lane like that, and it’s the kind of thing we need more of, it went really well,” Mark said. 

Another bar manager said the night was “strange, and slightly goofy, but quite fun”. 

“They were all IT types, so they didn’t actually drink that much, like, imagine if a company from here put on seven open bars,” he said – which seems best not to imagine.