With the news of Be Bar’s ability to open in Shaw looking up, we’ve got word that another long-standing controversy surrounding a new bar in the U street area is finally at an end.

Yes, Duffy’s Irish Restaurant, located directly across the street from 9:30 Club, has announced it will officially open to the public on May 12. Owner Andrew Duffy has been trying to gain permission to open his new establishment since the summer of 2005, when ANC 1B and a group of local residents stepped in to protest his liquor license.

The main issue Duffy faced, however, had nothing to do with sexual orientation or church politics. Instead, Duffy had acquired a piece of real estate that should probably never have been zoned for commercial use in the first place — it’s located directly in-between two residential homes, both of which are occupied by people who have lived in the neighborhood for a long time and who weren’t too excited to have a tavern opening up literally right next door. If the ANC and other community meetings that followed were any indication, tense feelings related to the area’s rapid gentrification (an Irish Pub in Shaw?) only added fuel to the fire.

Of course, none of this was the fault of any individual involved in the controversy — you can hardly blame the residents for being resistant to the idea, and you can hardly blame Andrew Duffy, who acquired some property in good faith that he had every right to turn into a business. But negotiations over a voluntary agreement quickly turned from reasonable to heated, and the ABC Board put off voting endlessly while the parties tried to work out their differences.

It’s all over now though, as Duffy was given the go ahead to complete construction a few weeks back, and the official opening date is now set. But a word to 9:30 Club patrons as you head on over to check out the place this month: Think about keeping the noise down when entering and exiting. Good behavior will probably save everyone involved a lot of trouble.