Dublin’s Craic Den comedy club will move to a new, permanent home later this year after its operators successfully applied to turn the former Token arcade bar on Queen Street in Dublin 7 into a purpose-built comedy theatre operating seven nights a week.Dublin City Council granted conditional approval last week for Atlantic Collective, the company behind Craic Den, to transform the property near Smithfield into a 200-seat licensed performance venue.The company, which is co-owned by comedians Eddie Mullarkey and Damian Clark, currently runs Craic Den at the Workman’s Club and adjacent Bison Bar on Wellington Quay, Dublin 2. Mullarkey told The Irish Times the duo are hoping to fit out the new venue over the summer, with the opening night provisionally set for October.“It’s going to have two venues,” he said. “The ground floor will be around a 150- to 160-seater and then the basement will be around 60, so we can have new material nights in the basement while the club shows go on upstairs.”Mullarkey said he sees the theatre as a community and arts hub – where acts can hone their material at workshops – as well as a commercial club. The venue will also feature a podcast studio and will be fitted out so comedians can film specials on site, he said.“It’s a space for comedy and talent to grow, which I think the city does really need,” he said. “Comedy needs to have that to keep growing. You can’t just have your commercial ventures. You need to write and create, and [comics] need a place to do that as well.”Atlantic Collective has leased the building from its owner, Finnish-registered property investment vehicle Emerald Invest AB, which consented to the overhaul, according to planning documents. The property has been vacant since Token announced its closure in 2024 before reopening at a new location in Custom House Square, Dublin 1, late last year. Mullarkey and Clark’s company applied for planning permission to convert the property into a licensed theatre venue earlier this year.Dublin City Council granted permission for the development last week, subject to several conditions. Among other things, planners limited the comedy club’s opening hours to between 6pm and 11pm on weekdays and 5.30pm to midnight on weekends. The council also asked the company to submit details of a “more restrained signage regime” than the plans envisaged before the club begins operations.The planning decision comes at a time when commercial arts venues and nightlife attractions are coming under increased pressure. In the past 10 years, the Andrews Lane and Tivoli theatres have been sold off for redevelopment as commercial properties. Last week, Yamamori Izakaya announced the impending cessation of all nightclub activities and DJ sets at the venue as part of the resolution of its High Court dispute with the neighbouring Hoxton Hotel on South Great George’s Street. “It is sad to see some of the arts spaces closing down,” Mullarkey said. “Everyone is under a certain economic pressure to make sure it’s viable. That’s a hard balance to get between having creative, artistic opportunities and also being commercially viable at the same time.”