Disbelieving members of Waterford's Kosovan community were among the 40,000 people who gathered on the city's quayside for a spectacular millennium party. "It's my first time ever to see something like that. It's freedom," said Mr Avni Dervishi, who was in Waterford visiting relatives among the 110 programme refugees from Kosovo living in the city.

"We really feel like it's not for real. If someone had told us one year ago we were going to celebrate New Year's Eve in Ireland we would not have believed it."

Mr Dervishi watched the open air concert and fireworks display which ushered in the millennium in the company of his mother, Rahime, his sister, Aferdita Berisha, and her daughters, Qendrefa (9) and Donjeta (7). "I'm really happy to see them alive because I was away from them the whole time - I was not in Kosovo."

The adults' only concern was that the children might be frightened by the fireworks. "We had to prepare the children so they would know it wasn't the sound of shelling," said Ms Berisha. "They are used to the sound of bombs," added her brother.

The open-air show was the conclusion of a day-long series of events including street theatre, free concerts and a Last Light ceremony at the French Church. Significant events in the city's 1,000-year history were commemorated throughout the day by a human "millennium clock" made up of community groups and individuals.

"We set out with very ambitious targets and we got there," said a jubilant director of the event, Mr Brian Merriman. "It was an amazing night. I think we really got the spirit of the millennium. We had a huge amount of community involvement from 10 a.m. until 1 a.m. the next day.

"We wanted to put our best foot forward. It's time to shake off our shyness and say `it is a very vibrant city', and I think that's what we achieved tonight and long may it last through the 21st century".

Supt Michael McGarry confirmed there had been no serious problems during the celebrations. "We're very pleased with the good humour of the crowd. I think the fireworks display and the array of the events on the quay was certainly spectacular and we're very happy with the way the crowd behaved themselves."

In Wexford, about 3,000 people turned out for a fireworks display on New Year's Day, one of a number of millennium events organised in the town. About two-thirds of the town's public houses remained closed on New Year's Eve and gardai described the celebrations as "quiet".

An estimated crowd of 5,000 witnessed a fireworks display in Clonmel, also on New Year's Day. Most of the town's pubs remained open for business the night before but gardai said there were no significant problems.