Summer 2002 is likely to prove one of the most wretched on record, but the prospect of a little mud and rain is not expected to dissuade the estimated quarter of a million who will attend the Witnness rock festival and a string of high-profile GAA matches over the weekend.
In Meath, 40,000 music fans will converge on Fairyhouse racecourse for Witnness. Now in its third year, the two-day jamboree features 80 artists performing on five stages.
Headline acts include Oasis, The Prodigy and Primal Scream.
The line-up boasts a varied cast of upcoming Irish performers, such as punk-pop quartet Wilt, experimental ensemble The Jimmy Cake and Tipperary singer Gemma Hayes.
More than 150 gardaí will attend, although no trouble is anticipated. Last year, 13 people were arrested, six for supplying drugs and seven for public order offences.
Nearby Ashbourne will remain open to traffic.
Dublin Bus has organised a shuttle service to and from Fairyhouse today and tomorrow. Buses will depart every 20 minutes from O'Connell Street from 11.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from Fairyhouse from midnight. Tickets cost €17.
To cater for the record attendance, the promoters have provided 650 portable toilets, three bars and and more than a dozen food outlets. Some 10,000 people are expected to use the onsite camping facilities. A Garda incident room has been opened under one of the main stands in Fairyhouse. It can be contacted on 01-8354116.
Some 160 medical staff will be on standby throughout the festival.
No tickets will be on sale at the gate.
A more restrained atmosphere is anticipated at Luttrellstown Castle, Co Dublin, tonight when opera star Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will give a rare outdoor performance.
An enticing GAA fixture list is set to attract 200,000 spectators today and tomorrow. At Croke Park, 75,000 are expected to watch the Leinster football final between Dublin and Kildare, the highest attendance at the stadium since the early 1970s. In Thurles, the Munster football final between Cork and Tipperary will be followed by a hurling qualifier between Cork and Galway. Tonight, Tipperary play Offaly in a hurling qualifier in Portlaoise, while Clare will clash with Wexford in the same venue tomorrow evening.
A row over a shortage of trains to bring Cork GAA fans to Thurles tomorrow appeared to have been partially resolved last night when Iarnród Éireann announced it would provide an extra three carriages.
The move followed the intervention of the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan. The train has been upgraded from nine to 12 carriages.