TOKEN, THE MUCH loved Dublin bar where customers can have a drink and a bite to eat while playing vintage arcade games, has announced it is set to close after eight years of doing business in the Smithfield area on the northside of Dublin city.

The bar announced today it would be “closing for good on 16 June” despite remaining a very popular venue. 

“Though often fully booked, we can’t justify raising prices further to meet rising costs. We may do it all again sometime in the future, but chances are slim and there is no plan to reopen,” Token said in an Instagram post.

The news will come as another blow to Dublin’s increasingly homogenous nightlife, which has shrunk as hotel and office developments have grown in the capital city in recent decades. 

Rental costs in particular have put pressure on pubs and clubs in the city, along with archaic licensing laws that in some cases predate the state and make it difficult to open in the first place.  

Government plans to reform the nighttime economy through revising licensing laws, among other things, have been delayed multiple times over the last number of years. 

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A post shared by Token - Dublin (@tokendublin)

Today, Token thanked their customers for supporting the bar over the years, while also being “sometimes critical”. 

“It felt good to know that people cared about what we were trying to do.”

The post said staff had been “fantastic during crazy times”, which included “weathering floods, fires, and even an actual pandemic”.

Staff were informed of the planned closure in March, the bar said.

“From now until the 16th, we hope our final days are a long celebration”, they said, adding that if people have tokens at home, ”now’s the time to use them! Same if you have any gift cards!”

“All in all, it’s quite sad, but we gave it our best effort and are walking away with hundreds of memories.”