DOVER, Del.- A downtown Dover bar is under the microscope, once again. City leaders and the police department are mulling the future of Irish Mikes.
Dover city council suspended Irish Mikes license in 2021, following multiple public disturbance complaints. Now, the bar is drawing the attention of city council once again, after a fight broke out inside.
Councilman Andrew Boggerty said he does not want to see the business shut down, but, shared concerns about downtown safety.
"We have to protect each other and if we are not being safe or if our business owners are not ensuring that our environment is safe then we are not meeting a standard," said Councilman Boggerty. "Then, we would have to take appropriate action against said business owner."
The owner of Irish Mikes did not want to elaborate on the recent incident, but said they will be present at next Monday's city council meeting.
Councilman Boggerty said ultimately "it is not just a council member's decision."
"This is a decision of the constituents," he said. "The owners [need to be] brought to the table to help resolve the matter and if those efforts need to be ramped up then they need to be ramped up."
Andrew Gerbasi owns a clothing store nearby. He hopes that Dover Police will look deeper into the issue.
"I definitely don't think that it should be shut down at least not without some sort of thorough investigation or evidence of something causing another thing," said Gerbasi.
In a statement, the Dover Police Department said, "We are currently in the process of gathering data on complaints related to Irish Mikes. Some of these incidents may occur in parking lots or nearby areas, and involve patrons of Irish Mikes. Because of this, it is going to take time to track down an exact number of complaints at or related to the business and distinguish them from other complaints that arise in the area.”
In 2021, when Irish Mikes was forced to close, its business license was pulled and liquor license suspended for 30 days.
Irish Mikes will be discussed at the next council meeting on Monday Jan. 26, but there has been no word if any action will take place.