Ireland is bracing itself for an extended celebration of St Patrick's Day, with festivals in cities and towns around the State beginning this weekend. With St Patrick's Day falling on a Tuesday this year, children will have an extra day off school and it also gives grown-ups an excuse to celebrate over a "long weekend".
The streets of central Dublin are already festooned in green in preparation for the city's St Patrick's Festival, which will span much of the week.
Aer Rianta expects 120,000 passengers to pass through Dublin Airport over the weekend, in the run-up to St Patrick's Day. Airlines have added 149 flights to their normal weekend schedules, to cater not only for incoming visitors, but also for racegoers heading out to Cheltenham Race Festival.
The celebrations for the national holiday will begin in earnest in Dublin tonight, with the Aer Lingus Symphony of Fire fireworks display, which starts at 8 p.m. The organisers advise spectators to come early and get the best view from George's Quay, Butt Bridge and Matt Talbot Bridge.
Custom House Quay between Beresford Place and Memorial Road was closed at midnight last night and will remain closed to traffic until 6 a.m. on Wednesday for festival events. George's Quay will be closed between 6 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. tonight as a viewing area for the fireworks display.
Tomorrow Custom House Quay will host the St Patrick's Festival Funfair, which begins at noon. College Green, Westmoreland Street and part of Dame Street will be closed to traffic for much of tomorrow for street entertainments, sports and other events.
From 11.30 a.m. to 6 p.m., street performers from Britain, France, Canada and Ireland will compete for the audience's attention with samba bands and a "sports arena". Later, the award-winning Masquerade 2000 carnival group will perform in Grafton Street from 9 p.m., with musical accompaniment from Ceol Batucada.
Dublin won't be the only place celebrating St Patrick's Day early. Killarney will mark the national holiday in unconventional style with the Guinness Roaring Twenties Festival. The festival began last night and ends on St Patrick's Day. The main attractions tonight will be the Bootleggers Ball and The Great Gatsby Masquerade Ball.
The organisers of Civic Week in Limerick are expecting 20,000 people to visit the city over the holiday period. Coach-loads of bandsmen and women from America, the UK and Russia have arrived in Limerick to compete in the International Marching Band competition which starts tomorrow at 11 a.m. It will feature the first appearance in Limerick of the Red Army Band from Minsk.
Tonight the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, will attend the Grand Marshal's Ball in Toronto, having been guest of honour at the city's Ireland Fund luncheon yesterday. Mr Ahern will review the Toronto parade tomorrow before heading to Washington for St Patrick's Day.
While many children will have Monday off, civil servants and bank officials will be working, and their workplaces will close only for St Patrick's Day itself.
As families head away to make the most of the holiday weekend, the National Safety Council (NSC) has warned of an increased likelihood of car accidents this weekend with "a significant increase in traffic" on the roads.
The NSC said 10 people died in road accidents last St Patrick's weekend and that "most of these accidents could have been avoided if all road-users had taken a little extra care".
The NSC chief executive, Mr Pat Costello, said St Patrick's Day was an occasion to take pride in the country, but "our recent record in relation to road accidents can be a source of pride to no one".
