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HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S Day!
This weekend will see parades aplenty and cultural events in every corner of the country.
Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s on offer.
Women’s National Football Team manager Vera Pauw, defender Diane Caldwell and former Irish international Paula Gorham will lead out the national parade taking place this afternoon.
Running from 12pm to 2pm, this year’s parade has been described by festival organisers as “biggest and brightest” yet.
It will begin at Parnell Square, cross O’Connell Bridge and run through the south side of the city.
Dallas star Patrick Duffy will be in attendance as this year’s International Guest of Honour.
It will be broadcast live on RTÉ One and on the RTÉ Player.
Major traffic restrictions similar to other years will be in place with diversions commencing at 5am across the city, while An Garda Síochána are have said in excess of 600 force members will be on duty today.
Gardaí are encouraging everyone who wishes to attend the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin to use public transport.
Elsewhere in the city, St. Patrick’s Festival Quarter returns for a second year at the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks.
By day families can enjoy a range of activities such as circus shows, panel discussions and music. From 6pm, Festival Quarter Nights will host food vendors, bars and live performances from Irish indie-rock group Pillow Queens and friends.
Some events are ticketed and have age restrictions, you can check all of that out here.
Meanwhile in Smithfield, a brand new food festival will run until Sunday.
The Licensed Vintners Association has said all pubs in Dublin City Centre will be open for the full permitted trading hours on St Patrick’s Day between 12.30pm and 12.30am.
Speaking at a media briefing earlier this week, the Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy said she was looking forward to welcoming people to the city.
“I’m asking people to look after the city while they’re out and about. Take care and just have a fantastic day,” she said.
An in-depth look at everything that’s on (and there is A LOT on) can be found here.
Kicking off at 11.30am, Galway’s parade marks the start of a three-day celebration in and around city.
It will begin at University Road, cross Salmon Weir Bridge, to Eglinton Street and wrap up at Prospect Hill at around 12.30pm.
Connacht Director of Rugby Andy Friend and 11-year-old Toy Show star Saoirse Ruane will lead the throngs of participants, including spectacle theatre company Macnas.
A weekend-long run of free outdoor gigs in Eyre Square will get underway at 3.10pm this afternoon.
In Salthill, amusements will open for the weekend later today while a family fun day is set to go ahead tomorrow.
For more details, click here.
This year’s “Voices of Belfast” St Patrick’s Day Parade will leave City Hall at 1.30pm and celebrate the city’s vibrant music heritage – from pop to punk and traditional to disco.
It will weave its way through the city centre via Chichester Street, Victoria Street and High Street before making its way back to City Hall.
The city is warning of temporary traffic measures. More on that here.
Festivities continue into Saturday, with céilí dancing taking place in Belfast Castle at 2pm. Details of all events across the weekend can be found here.
“A Century of Stories” is the theme of this year’s parade in Cork city, which will set off from South Mall at 1pm.
Participants including sport groups, dance schools and brass bands will travel down Grand Parade, onto St. Patrick’s Street, finishing on Merchant’s Quay.
Irish Sign Language interpretation will be provided at the Grandstand on St. Patrick's Street, where there will also be a zone reserved for wheelchair users.
For those who cannot attend in-person, it will be livestreamed here.
There are also a number of active and cultural events lined up across the weekend. See more about what’s on here.
Led by local celebrity chef Edward Hayden, this year’s parade in Kilkenny will be celebrate "Legends and Stories".
It’ll start on John Street at 1.30pm, before heading onto Rose Inn Street and finishing at the Market Yard.
The streets of the city will be full of entertainment before and after the parade, with live music performances, food, crafts and carnival rides beginning at 11am today, tomorrow and Sunday, lasting into the evening.
See what's on offer here.
The parade in Limerick starts at noon and will head down O’Connell Street from Roden Street, making its way to the finish point on Rutland Street.
“Discover Limerick” is this year's theme, with many old favourites returning to take part.
A city-wide festival beginning today will run until Sunday. Full details on all events can be found here.
For those opposed to venturing into the city, numerous parades have been organised at community level. Find out more here.
With this year’s Grand Marshal, boxing champion Kelyn Cassidy, leading the way, Waterford's parade will celebrate “The Best of Waterford”.
It will begin at 1pm at the Bridge Street end of the Quay.
Details of road closures and all of the best viewing spots can be found here.
There will be events well into this evening and tomorrow evening, with the festival wrapping up on Sunday at 4.30pm.
More info here.
Iarnród Éireann has said services will operate on a Sunday timetable today but with additional DART and Commuter trains in Dublin as well as extra late-night trains this evening.
Tara Street Station will be closed until 4pm today and commuters are being asked to use Connolly or Pearse Stations during this time.
Parade-goers in the capital are also being urged to allow sufficient time to travel into the city and to be prepared for high demand on public transport.
The following trains will operate after midnight on DART and Commuter routes, serving all stations unless otherwise stated:
A revised timetable is in place for intercity routes and the Cork Commuter. Details are available on www.irishrail.ie or the Iarnród Éireann app.
Gardaí are encouraging everyone who wishes to attend the St Patrick's Day parade in Dublin to use public transport.
The National Transport Authority (NTA) and public transport providers have developed a public transport network for the day which can be found here.
People who live outside the M50 are being asked to try leave their car outside the M50 zone. People who live inside the M50 zone on the outside are being asked to try leave their car outside the Grand Canal zone and those who live on the northside are being asked to try leave their car outside the North Circular Road zone.
Gardaí are asking people attending any St Patrick's Day parades around the country to plan their journey in advance. They are advising to:
Gardaí have the following public safety advise for all attending the St Patrick's Day festival parade:
It also has the following personal safety advise for members of the public:
With reporting by Hayley Halpin
Jesus, that is truly awful.
All is forgiven Google.
The squiggle just breaks off suddenly exactly like their broadband.
Looks like a pink EU to me.
Yeah at least google’s logo is readable even if it is childish
Did it cost as much as changing the shamrock design on Aer Lingus all those years ago. A national scandal.at the time, I’m sure some group of consultants have just bagged millions from it, and paid a bit back in brown envelopes.
I take it the €16 million rebranding includes the total amount required for the physical re-lettering of their whole fleet of vans, signs & new stationary etc, and is not just the fee of some graphic designer for a poxy new logo?
That would be reprehensible.
Looks like they didn’t even get to finish the logo, they’ll be needing more money now.
Dynamic and modern can ony be applied when broadband is rolled out across the whole country.
Dynamic when the price reflects the service. Logo looks like ’2 bent fingers back at you’ or ‘screw you’. change of name – same shit another day
Poxy New logo and system imposed on customers overnight caused chaos and confusion.Old webmail has disappeared.Could not get help from technical section,customer care or Eircom/eir.ie shop.The technical section was unreachable !
It didn’t become Irelands fifth least favourite brand because of the letters c o and m.
Jesus for a minute I thought a snail passed over my phone
I hate to see the losing design.
That’s great how much is that rebranding gonna cost me
Depends. How many shares do you own?
No surprise they are so disliked. Their customer service is shocking. I often went through 3 or 4 people to get a straightforward answer.
You actually got a straightforward answer!!
Bloody expensive for a child’s doodle.
Ah that does it – eir sounds great – I feel like I used to hate them for overcharging my granddad for services they confirmed with him he no longer needed and taking months and months to refund him….. but with a name like eir how could they have, i must have had it wrong
Being back telecom Éireann
Bring back P&T
Remember Eircell?… Telecom Éireann launched Eircell in 1984. The memories of having a Ready to go 088 number, this was my first phone! (http://www.ybig.ie/forum/uploads/3313/10479669593.jpg)
1984?
Was launched in 1983… operations commenced in 1986.
That motorola was my first phone too, got it in 98 or 99 after resisting being a phone w&nker for a couple of years before I caved in.
Totally worth it, I’m going straight back to them now.
100′s of millions in debt, 40% debt write off, credit extended multiple times, considering a third attempt at the stock market, debt transferred to holding company’s in Luxembourg and Jersey.
It wouldn’t surprise me Eircom will end up as close to an Irish version of Enron as we’ll ever see.
Just who the hell is lending them the €16mil for a painfully pathetic rebrand?
They’re just racking up the debt and will come looking for a bailout one day citing the number of employees and need for communications infrastructure.
Telecom Éireann.
Passed around to be used and abused in corporate takeovers by anyone who had even a bare relationship with FF for a decade till it was riddled and emaciated.
not surprised they are the worst regarded telecoms company. had my broadband order cancelled there by their credit Dept. never had dealings with eircom or meteor before but if I want to find out why I need to send a snail mail letter to Kerry, pleading for a reason. Will they need a letter from the local bishop next? Dynamic and modern my behind. Had sky installed instead no problem the next week.
Jaysus man, that is absolutely dreadful.
An easy few euros for the person(s) that squiggled it though!
16 million ahaha, I live 1.5km from a town with 100mbs, we have 3mbs. A company best avoided.
Eircoms lines was never brought to good standard out geographically in its bradband coverage, should be state owned!
Just to note our line can take fibre, eircom just decided they had no plans to plug our line into a fibre cabinet but we still got that will be the same price or F off attitude.
It looks like a guy drowning – kinda like this company is…….
Bit girly looking.
Looks kind of ‘fluid’
and steamy
Gender-fluid?
It should be brown
Eircom the biggest shower of corrupt bast**ds !!!!!!!
I think it is lovely and hopeful looking. Where the hell do all you moany holes come from or are ye all the same person?
This site would bring you down sometimes.
It sickens me to think how much they paid for that worm…
It should be replaced altogether and get someone to provide us with a decent broadband service
Did they drop the ‘com’ because their broadband service is inexcusably awful?
87 quid a month for gigabit. Sure, but be careful what you download or you’ll get a DMCA three-strikes letter before the first bill arrives. I’ll be sticking with UPC.
You mean they don like you stealing stuff over their network? That’s so unfair.
Putting lipstick on a pig….
meanwhile back in the market ,UPC. 240 speed broadband and phone 45e. per month is a lot cheaper so why change ? .
Eir today, gone tomorrow….
It’s a squiggle.
Amazing how many CEO’s think a change of squiggle changes the company.
Royal Mail spent many millions rebranding itself as “Consignia”.
Royal Mail sheepishly rebranded itself as Royal Mail when everybody in Britain laughed at them.
I see their marketing is as bad as their customer service then.
Be great in neon
it looks sh*t
Looks like a pantyliner ad.
The company is doomed, this is awful and whoever decided to go with this should be seriously evaluated. looks like a diet yogurt logo aimed at ladies. Eircom as a name works and changes to branding were needed but not this.
A truly dreadful company to deal with. We have been lobbying for years to have our business broadband upgraded by installing a highspeed (and now fibre) line from our local exchange, a mere 5 miles away. €17 million could have been better invested in rural infrastructure investment rather than this abhorrence of a rebrand.
Just checked on speedtest.net and our speed is – wait for it – 0.26mbs! (Yes, that is ZERO-POINT-TWO-SIX).
I’ll still call it Eir’con’…
Dreadful rebrand for a dreadful company. I sometimes miss seeing all the Irish branded companies in this country, like Telecom Éireann or Iarnród Éireann which prefers to call itself Irish Rail these days. How long before Bus Éireann is simply Irish Bus?
That is NOT just “a squiggle”.
Look at the cable connecting your landline’s handpiece to the main body of the telephone.
That “squiggle” is a representation of that curling, looping cable.
I like it, but am disappointed to see that the designer ripped off the old, classic, Plessey logo from the 60s/70s
(See – https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/ae/1b/13/ae1b1348b34fd7c1aeb9e3b9832d242b.jpg)
The more expensive the logo the more probable that it was down to a creative search rather than a creative process.
Their name is slowly disappearing over time, just like their customers. It won’t be long until they’re gone, and good riddance.
They never bought http://www.eir.com ha
Let’s start a crowd fund to do it
How long will it be before the State bails them out (instead purchasing the network)
It’s in the national interest that the backbone be in state hands.
Still P&T to me
Time-lapse of the eir flagship store 16M rebrand…
IIS Ltd – http://www.fitout.ie are the main contractor!
https://youtu.be/HOuDFQN3qjU
a trendy worm. I’ve seen this so many times, little thought.
airnb:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/09/airbnbs-controversial-logo-looks-exactly-like-one.html
http://www.dezeen.com/2014/07/17/new-airbnb-logo-comparisons-automotive-anywhere-habitat-genitalia/
theres a google one as well going around and their new ‘hacked’ font. theyre all lifting, the argument is, its not about the logo, its the brand, no excuse for infringing trademarks, not the same thing. laziness.
Should have changed it to eircon
ebola
Won’t make them one iota more efficient
Have worked for Twelve hours today trying to access my Eircom Webmail to no avail.Intend cancelling my contract with Eir.ie(Phone & Broadband)
Eir! As in Eircode?
It’s like an 80s movie poster. Awful.
Their VAT number has recently changed. They’re now registered in Jersey.
Wonder what An Taisce have to say about their wildlife disturbance of Skellig Michael in the TV ad… Birds going nuts over a helicopter approach in the opening scene, nice…
I can see where they’re going with this. But they should have kept going. It looks like Arabic, especially since they also use it for the favicon (that’s the little icon in the browser’s address bar).
It looks like Luke Shaw’s leg
Yeap, Eircom or Eir squiggle as it is now is heading in the right direction alright according to Mr Moat. Straight into the pockets of the anonymous asset strippers, just like Clerys.
have your say