Madness on streets of Dublin as 2014 rolls around

It was Madness in Dublin last night.

A group of French people were instrumental in forming a Conga line which danced its way past the Bank of Ireland in College Green; Germans danced with abandon; Americans were spotted pogoing near the hallowed halls of Trinity.

But no one minded. It was the countdown to the New Year after all and, as the year of the Gathering took its last breath, it seemed fitting that thousands of people from all over the world should take to the streets of the capital to ring in the new year at the Three NYE Dublin event.

And they really were from all over. Celita Windsor from Johannesburg in South Africa was visiting friends in England but booked flights to Ireland to celebrate here “because we heard Dublin was a party town”.

She was not disappointed.

When Madness took to the stage at around 11.45pm it took approximately two seconds between the lyrics to One Step Beyond being sung and the thousands of people who had converged on Dublin's College Green simultaneously starting to dance that dance.

The crowd might have been lost in the moment but the cogs projected onto the facade of Trinity College kept turning as the final moments of 2013 ticked down.

Then all of a sudden the New Year was upon us.

5-4-3-2-1 the crowd bellowed before grabbing hold of their nearest and dearest. After all, that’s what New Year’s is about.

Oh, and fireworks - they’re a big part of New Year’s too. But not everyone was impressed. “Is that it?” one woman commented as they ended. “Cheap,” she added with some scorn.

It appeared not to have spoiled her night though. A short time later, she could be seen dancing wildly to Baggy Trousers and It Must be Love. And she was not the only one. The further back into the crowd you went the madder the dancing got, proving, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Camden ska band, who first played Dublin back in 1979, have still got it.

But while the night culminated in Madness there was plenty to keep the audience going beforehand.

The Irish music scene was well represented with Seo Linn kicking things off with their eclectic mix of tunes as Gaeilge including an Irish version of Wake Me Up which went down a storm with the crowd.

Then it was onto the dark suits and dark glasses of the Strypes who got the crowd’s (now cold) feet tapping followed by Dingle band Walking on Cars before the very talented Ryan Sheridan took to the stage.

The Irish portion of the evening was followed by glam, glitz and harmonies in the shape of three of the former Sugababes, now known as MKS.

Earlier in the evening hundreds of people converged on Stephen’s Green, lanterns in hand, to take part in the People’s Procession of Light.

Led by festival experts LUXe and aerial dance theatre company Fidget Feet the parade began with illuminated Kremlin-style towers, stilt-walkers, acrobats, girls dressed as giant butterflies, dancers and a man operating an impressive white mechanical horse.

They were followed by hundreds of children and parents from Dublin and farther afield, many of who made their own lanterns to help light up this, the last night of the year.

Kim Jiyeon, originally from South Korea and living in Dublin who attended the event with her daughter Gabby, said it was “like St Patrick’s Day”.

She had a point. Although there were a lot fewer green hats than there would be on Dublin’s streets on March 17th there were still plenty dotting the crowds of onlookers who watched the parade, some of them recording the event on their smartphones and cameras.

Among the hundreds taking part in the procession were over 25 members of the 14th Ballyroan Scout Group whose section leader Brendan Doyle said were “absolutely loving” the event.

“It’s fantastic, absolutely brilliant. It’s the first time we’ve experienced something like this. I knew it was on last year but it wasn’t to this scale. I think it’s absolutely superb,” he said.

Eilish Hardiman and Steve Browning were there with their nine-year-old twins Emily and Lucca who proudly held aloft their homemade lanterns as they took part in the procession.

“My Dad put in the light inside,” Lucca divulged, adding that he thought the event was “really good”. Both twins were unanimous in what their favourite part of the parade was: “the fire lady”. Asked why Emily replied “because it’s really dangerous”.

Anastasia Pogos (11) and her mother Natalie who is from the Ukraine were among those who had heard about the event and decided to join in because “it looked like a lot of fun”. And by talking to Anastasia and some of the other children present they weren’t disappointed.