Two weeks after the fiasco of the match that never was in Paris, Irish fans have the chance to see their team kick-start its Six-Nation’s campaign when they take on Italy in the Aviva stadium tomorrow.
Ireland will be hoping for a more coherent, and winning, display against the Azzurri than the lacklustre losing opener against Wales.
Declan Kidney had named an unchanged starting line-up from the aborted showdown at the Stade de France with outhalf Jonathan Sexton recovered from a thigh muscle injury.
The Italians come to Dublin in buoyant mood after going close to beating England in a snow-laden pitch in Rome last week.
The match kicks off at 1.30pm and marks the start of a gruelling schedule of four games in as many weeks for Ireland.
For those looking for non-sporting entertainment this weekend the Music Show 2012 brings Irish and international musicians, fans and industry experts together at the RDS.
The two-day event features discussions and debates with the likes of Blur producer Ben Hillier, workshops with former AC/DC drummer, Chris Slade, and even the chance to practise Stairway to Heaven on custom fender guitars.
Among the live performance this year will be Lisa Hanningan, Bell X1, Jerry Fish, And So I Watch You From Afar and The Original Rudeboys as well as a special guest performance by President Michael D Higgins on Sunday.
An Artists’ Charter and WholeWorldBand mobile app will be launched.
The Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin is currently running a photography exhibition of selected works from the art holdings of Bank of America in collaboration with the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Over 100 pieces are arranged by theme: portraits, landscapes, still life, documentary images, street photography and experimental abstractions document the evolution of photography since the 1850s.
Fancy seeing what a specifically Irish Alphabet should look like? Then the Cork Printmakers exhibition, which collates 26 prints in a range of styles from 26 artists at the National Print Museum in Dublin, is for you.
Peter Shaffer's 1970s thriller Equus, about a psychiatrist's attempts to treat a disturbed boy with a fascination for horses, is on at the Market Place Theatre in Armagh tomorrow night before moving to Dublin.
Brian Friel's version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya runs at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast while Michael West's A Play on Two Chairs ends its run at the Half Moon Theatre in Cork tomorrow night.
Finally, for those looking for the time of their life, it's the last chance to catch Dirty Dancing the musical at the Grand Canal Theatre as Baby will be put back in the corner following tomorrow's 7.30pm show.
Weatherwise Met Éireann has forecast perfect conditions for the big match - dry and bright with some sunny spells and temperatures ranging between 9 and 13 degrees.
Tomorrow night will be mainly dry with patchy rain in the west and south. Sunday will see some scattered outbreaks of rain and strengthening southwest winds with highs of 11 degrees.
