The annual New Year's Eve spectacular will not go ahead this year with organisers citing public health concerns as the reason for cancelling.

Organisers have this afternoon confirmed the news that Dublin's New Year's Eve celebrations to ring in 2021 will not go ahead. Forced to cancel amidst ongoing Covid-19 concerns, the announcement comes as a huge disappointment to people all across the country who tune in to watch the event each year. A three-day festival, over 110,000 people partook in last year's event with a further 80,000 viewers gathering to take in the festivities. Encompassing everything from live music to a public fireworks display, officials at Fáilte Ireland made the decision to cancel after talks with Dublin City Council and other events partners. A statement released by Fáilte Ireland said that "it is clear that the event would not fall within current Government and public health guidance and it would not be appropriate to encourage people to congregate in these numbers". Commenting that Dublin, in particular, has faced "incredibly difficult challenges in recent weeks", the statement later details what the next steps for industry recovery are. "Fáilte Ireland’s focus is now on working with Government, industry bodies and tourism businesses on the ground to support them to survive and recover in the months ahead. As part of this, Fáilte Ireland has, in collaboration with local authorities, public bodies and industry, established a Destination Recovery Taskforce in Dublin that brings together tourism stakeholders from across the region to form a co-ordinated and sustained collective response to the crisis. The Destination Recovery Taskforce is looking at ways to bring life back into Dublin City in a controlled manner that meets public health guidelines while helping businesses to survive and is exploring opportunities to drive footfall in Dublin during the winter months." Header image via Shutterstock/The Custom House, New Year's Festival, 2016

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