Thousands expected to see freedom of Dublin conferred on Gay Byrne

Thousands of people are expected to turn out in Dublin city centre this evening to see the honorary freedom of the city conferred on Gay Byrne.

The broadcaster, who was nominated by acclamation for the honour at a city council meeting last month, will receive the award at a ceremony outside the Mansion House.

The Lord Mayor, the city manager and members of Dublin Corporation will be present for the ceremony, which takes the form of a meeting of the City Council. Mr Byrne will be presented with a gift from the city and an illuminated scroll at the meeting, which will be the last before the local elections.

The freedom of Dublin city is the closest the State has to an honours system. The veteran broadcaster will join a list of freemen of the city which includes Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and tenor Count John McCormack. In all 63 people have received the honour since Isaac Butt became the first honorary freeman in 1876. The award is designed to coincide with the end of Mr Byrne's career as host of The Late Late Show, which has run for 37 years. The last Late Late Show will be broadcast on May 21st. Mr Byrne, who will be 65 in August, retired from hosting his daily radio show last Christmas. The awarding of the freedom of the city to him almost ran into a delay last month, when Labour Party councillors suggested that the Burmese resistance leader, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi, should be nominated simultaneously with Mr Byrne.

However, the councillors decided at the April 12th meeting to defer Ms Suu Kyi's nomination to a later date and to honour Mr Byrne on his own.

The accolade will not be the first conferred on him. In March 1988 he was one of 10 Dubliners on whom an honorary degree from Trinity College Dublin was conferred to mark Dublin's millennium. In 1990 he received the Lord Mayor's award.

Traffic restrictions will be in operation in Dublin city centre to morrow for the conferring. Daw son Street will be closed to traffic from 6 p.m. until 9.30 p.m. Traffic will be diverted via Mer rion Row, Upper Merrion Street and Clare Street to Westland Row and Pearse Street. Those wishing to attend the ceremony should approach the Mansion House from the Nassau Street end.

The master of ceremonies for the award is RTE's Mary Kennedy and the crowd will be entertained by a jazz group before and after the conferring.