Irish eyes will be on events abroad this weekend as the Irish rugby team begins its World Cup adventure in New Zealand and the September 11th attacks are commemorated across the globe.
The United States will provide opposition for the Declan Kidney’s side in New Plymouth at 7am Irish time on Sunday as the squad looks to hit the ground running after a disappointing winless streak in the World Cup warm-up fixtures.
Back at home, September 11th will be commemorated during a concert at the Convention Centre in Dublin at 4pm on Sunday.
The Global Sing for Peace, which is being held in a number of countries, features a performance by Chieftains founder Paddy Maloney, a reading by Pulitzer Prize winning-poet Paul Muldoon, and a witness account of what happened in New York 10 years earlier by former Irish Times correspondent Conor O'Clery.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster from €20.
There are also a number of festivals and sports fixtures taking place across the country, but the weather is unlikely to encourage too many to leave home.
Met Éireann said tomorrow would be a wet and windy day, with the west coast forecast to take the brunt of the downpours. Sunday is set to follow suit with “heavy falls” likely in many areas as a wet weather system moves across the country.
Tonight, a Lenister rugby side stripped of many of its star attractions will square off with Newport Gwent Dragons at the RDS as part of the RaboDirect PRO 1 league. The game kicks off at 7.35pm.
Elsewhere, Connacht face Llanelli Scarlets in the same competition in the Galway Showgrounds at 3.15pm tomorrow.
Racing takes place at the Curragh Racecourse in Co Kildare tomorrow and Sunday with the first race going to post at 2.10pm both days.
Traffic diversions will be in effect in north Dublin tomorrow and Sunday as the Killalane Motorcycle Road Race is held in Skerries. Practice stages take place from 1pm until 7pm tomorrow, and the race will take place from 10am until 6.30pm on Sunday.
Food and drink are on the menu in the south as the Waterford Harvest Festival continues and the Midleton Food and Drink Festival takes place.
Events will take place in Midleton throughout tomorrow with the main street closed to stage the festivities from 7am until 7pm.
In Waterford, cooking demonstrations, street feasts, markets and a thanksgiving mass take place in the city centre tomorrow and Sunday. A festival line-up is available at www.waterfordharvestfestival.ie.