Fireworks display cancelled due to wind, rain

The cancelled Skyfest fireworks display, which should have been held last night, will not go ahead later this year, the St Patrick…

The cancelled Skyfest fireworks display, which should have been held last night, will not go ahead later this year, the St Patrick's Festival organisers decided yesterday.

High winds and heavy rain prompted the decision to cancel the event, which was to have been held in Dublin's docklands.

Over 200,000 people were expected to attend the display, at which more than 5,000 fireworks were to have been blasted into the sky. The Waterboys, playing at the nearby Point Theatre, were to have provided a pre-show entertainment.

The St Patrick's Festival organisers said it was with "enormous regret" that the National Lottery-sponsored event was being cancelled. "Weather conditions at the Skyfest site make the set-up of the show impossible," a spokeswoman said. "There is a one-metre swell on the river and extremely high winds."

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The conditions meant that barges needed to rig the fireworks could not operate safely.

The event would not be rescheduled for later in the year as it had been specially designed to celebrate the St Patrick's Festival.

Alison Healy

Alison Healy

Alison Healy is a contributor to The Irish Times