Security guard at The Academy venue in Dublin suspended over alleged racist incident

A SECURITY guard on the door at The Academy music venue in Dublin has been suspended following an incident of alleged racism.

Footage emerged on social media yesterday of a young black man being refused entry to the popular venue without explanation.

In the video, other people are being admitted to the venue while the young man asks the member of security why he was not being allowed in.

"You let her in and two other people, but you didn’t let him and me, why?" the customer asked.

"I let them in yeah," the security guard replied.

The security man then told him, "there are no tickets" and when the customer said that other people were allowed to buy tickets "at the door", the security man replied:

"Yeah, and?"

In the video another member of the security team can be heard saying: “He doesn't have to give a reason. It's private property. Come on man, simple as. It's common sense."

Other members of the security team then stood in between the two men, as they tried to bring the exchange to an end.

As the video continues the customer repeatedly asked:

"Because why, because why? Say it, say it."

The security guard said, "I don’t need to say it."

In a statement on social media, the venue said it is "deep concerned by the video circulating on social media of an incident outside The Academy on Saturday night during our weekly late night club."

"As a result, a member of the Event Sec security team has been suspended from duty pending further detailed investigation. In the interim, a new door team will be in operation at the venue from today, at our request."

"We would take this opportunity to reach out to the person impacted in this video, and we wish to invite him back to the venue, and will be arranging asap."

A Nigerian singer who was due to play in the venue last night had threatened to pull out following the incident.

He tagged The Academy in a tweet yesterday morning saying he would not perform unless the incident was "addressed in the next four hours".

Once The Academy tweeted its response, he thanked the venue for "doing the right thing".