THE ANNUAL New Year’s Festival in Dublin has been cancelled.
Organisers Failte and Dublin City Council took the difficult decision to cancel the event in light of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
As many as 110,000 revellers attended the festivities last year, which featured a special fireworks display over Custom House as the clock struck midnight.
However, organisers agreed that it "would not be appropriate to encourage people to congregate in these numbers” given the current public health guidelines in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
The decision come amid rising case numbers in the Irish capital.
Dublin accounted for 2,004 of the 3,845 confirmed cases of coronavirus reported in Ireland over the past two weeks.
A statement from Failte Ireland read: "Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector has suffered significantly as a result of COVID-19, with Dublin in particular facing incredibly difficult challenges in recent weeks.
"Failte Ireland’s focus is now on working with Government, industry bodies and tourism businesses on the ground to support them to survive and recover in the months ahead.
"As part of this, Fáilte Ireland has, in collaboration with local authorities, public bodies and industry, established a Destination Recovery Taskforce in Dublin that brings together tourism stakeholders from across the region to form a co-ordinated and sustained collective response to the crisis.
"The Destination Recovery Taskforce is looking at ways to bring life back into Dublin City in a controlled manner that meets public health guidelines while helping businesses to survive and is exploring opportunities to drive footfall in Dublin during the winter months."
The move comes hot on the heels of a similar announcement in London, where Mayor Sadiq Khan confirmed no fireworks display would take place.
