Irish Heritage Centre has alcohol licence suspended after Paddy's Day 'violent brawl'

A video of the mass brawl at the famous venue in Cheetham Hill was presented as evidence at a public hearing this week.

According to reports on the news website Manchester World, the footage shows a man with blood streaming down his face - as well as people throwing chairs and an ‘elderly female’ being punched in the face.

A police officer is said to have told the hearing the woman - a NHS volunteer - had her teeth ‘knocked out’.

PC Stuart Hammersley told the licensing panel that the ‘older lady’ approacwsh one of the men who was fighting before being punched in the face.

The Irish World Heritage Centre has now had its alcohol licence suspended pending a full review which is due to take place next month.

Officers were called to the centre off Queens Road at around 11pm after reports of more than 40 fighting and throwing chairs and glasses at each other.

One 999 caller reported that “guns and knives” had been mentioned resulting in Greater Manchester Police requesting firearms officers attend together with the tactical aid unit.

There were also reports of vehicles crashing into each other in the car park.

However, the club's general manager later claimed that the fight only involved two men while others were trying to separate the pair.

"It was just two people fighting," the manager said

"It happened as we were closing and trying to get everyone out of the door.

"One threw a punch at another, he got up and they carried on fighting.

"There were a lot of people trying to stop them fighting, but it wasn't a mass brawl."

The manager claimed it was "the typical aftermath of a St Patrick's Day parade".

"There were balloons, wrappers and a fair bit of broken glass," she said.

"You expect rubbish all over the place. I'm used to it because I see it every year. When you've got one to two thousand people coming through the door, what would you expect it to look like?

"When the police arrived, they thought the place had been trashed.

"It was a really good day and everybody enjoyed the celebrations. The atmosphere was fantastic."