A NIGHTCLUB in central Dublin has issued an ‘unreserved’ apology after refusing admission to a wheelchair user on Saturday night.

Madison nightclub on Wicklow Street made the apology after a complaint posted to Facebook by Graham Bolger, who claimed he had been turned away from the nightclub on the grounds that he was in a wheelchair.

“That was just the start of my 45 minute ordeal of extreme discrimination at the hands of their staff,” he said.

Bolger, who said he has been using a wheelchair for eight years, said he had never been refused entry to any venue in the world – “from boats to cliff-top castles, festivals to beach clubs, car rallies to deep sea dives”.

Bolger posted a photograph, showing him outside the nightclub, to his personal Facebook profile – and to the nightclub’s own Facebook page, where it had gathered almost 50,000 ‘Likes’ from other users in 16 hours.

The massive response, and shows of support from other users criticising the alleged behaviour of the staff, prompted the club to issue a Facebook statement of its own about four hours later.

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“Madison Nightclub unreservedly apologise for the disgraceful treatment of Graham Bolger last night at the club,” it said, adding that the doorman in question “was with us from an outside agency for the last four weeks” and had been “dismissed with immediate effect”.

Our company policy is that the club is open to all. We have welcomed people of all abilities and will continue to do so. We are ashamed and embarrassed that this has happened.

It also claimed that it had delayed making a public comment as it had tried to establish direct contact with Bolger first.

“We deeply regret what has happened and will ensure that it never happens again. We hope to speak to Graham directly as soon as possible,” it said.