There were fireworks over Wexford last night as the 46th annual Wexford Festival Opera opened with a bang. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the festival chairman, Mr John G. O'Connor, spoke at an opening ceremony in Church Lane.
This is the sixth and final year that Mr O'Connor will chair the festival. The position will be filled by Mr Ted Howlin next year.
The throng moved to the Theatre Royal for the opening performance, Elena Da Feltre.
All the main performances in the 2 1/2-week-long festival have been booked out for months.
From last night's turnout it looks as if the festival will match last year's record of 100 per cent attendance at all performances.
People from all corners of the globe and all the arts, political and media fields filled the foyer.
The Opera Train from Dublin pulled in at 7.10 p.m., releasing an unusually formal crowd onto the platform. Mr Kevin Healy of RTE with his partner, novelist Deirdre Purcell, broadcaster Carrie Crowley and the Gate Theatre's Marie Rooney all made the trip by rail.
The opening performance, a little-known opera by Saverio Mercadente, Elena Da Feltre, is directed by Sonja Frisell.
The other two main operas of the festival are Otto Respighi's La Siamma, directed by Franco Ripa di Meana, and Alexander Dargomizhsky's Rusalka, directed by Dimitri Bertman. There are several other recitals and concerts by both Irish and international musicians.
Back at the Theatre Royal, the crowd moved to their seats, the lights dimmed and the performance began.