This is such shame.
Dublin’s New Year’s festival for the close of 2020 has officially been cancelled due to Covid-19. While it probably doesn’t come as much of a shock, it’s bound to top off a year with few highlights for many.
The firework display has been a staple of Ireland’s New Year celebrations, attracting a total of 110,000 people to the event last year.
Failte and Dublin City Council – the event’s organisers – took the decision to cancel the festivities as it would put a risk in the Covid-19 cases increasing and “would not be appropriate to encourage people to congregate in these numbers”.
2,004 of the 3,845 Covid-19 cases reported in Ireland in the last two weeks were recorded in Dublin. These kind of numbers mean the ruling hasn’t come as much of a surprise.
Failte Ireland’s statement 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.”
Let’s hope the famous event can get back on track for 2021!