Stop sneering at the back and keep an open mind about the Millennium Committee's flagship project, launched yesterday in a blaze of candlelight at Dublin Castle.

The Last Light ceremony is a well-intentioned nationwide event designed so the midnight hour is not the only focal point for the celebrations. "The ceremony will be simple, sensitive and highly symbolic," according to the committee's newsletter. The committee chairman, Mr Seamus Brennan TD, urged people to "light and unite".

An Post is delivering millennium candles to all households for use in gatherings of family and friends as the sun sets for the last time this millennium. According to Mr Tom Rowley, press officer for the project, the scheme was designed so everybody can share in the experience.

It is hoped the candles will be lit at different times across the country the natural light begins to fade. RTE television will cover the ceremony at Aras an Uachtarain at 4.16 p.m.

Much carping has been heard since the project was announced at "the national wave of nostalgia" that is going to spread across the land during the ceremony. The deeply cynical are already calling it the "set your house on fire ceremony".

Others have complained that the candles won't fit through letter boxes but the candles are also available from An Post sorting offices.

This week there was criticism that there is no Irish on the souvenir scroll, which accompanies the candles, and on which the names of those present at the lighting ceremony can be recorded. The scroll features a verse from a poem by W.B. Yeats, chosen by Seamus Heaney.

In a letter to this newspaper, Mr Liam O Cuinneagain, director of Oideas Gael, the Irish language and cultural centre in Glencolumbkille, Co Donegal, maintains the committee is "ignorant" if it doesn't realise that Irish was the daily language of most people in this country through 700 years of the millennium.

"It's certain that no other country in the EU would be happy to do the likes without using the national language," he writes, calling for an apology from the committee.

So far, it has not been forthcoming. The committee has other things on its mind like trying to persuade Ronan Keating to finish his millennium song in time for the millennium. The Boyzone star has written the words for the song which has the Michael Jacksonesque title Make the Change; it's the music he is having trouble with, surprisingly.

Millennium activity is hotting up all over the place. This week the new millennium pound coin was launched, a souvenir destined to be dubbed "the punt on the punt" in reference to the 2,000-year-old boat depicted on it.

RTE also got in on the act, announcing details of its New Year's Eve coverage. Mr Joe Mulholland said that the Pope's visit will "pale into insignificance" in televisual terms compared to RTE's 24-hour millennium broadcast.

The good news for RTE is that more people than ever are choosing to stay at home for New Year's Eve, according to a recent survey.

Poor ticket sales for an increasing number of millennium concerts across North America are worrying promoters and the cost of such entertainment is plummeting.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has booked the State Apartments at Dublin Castle for the Government, for the night of the festivities, but a spokesman said he is unlikely to avail of them. "He does not want to be attending any function where people have to work, so he will probably spend it at home or with friends," he said.

According to their spokeswoman rock stars U2 have the same idea and will be "at home nestling in the bosom of their families". But even at home, revellers may not be safe from the effects of the insidious millennium bug.

In October the British government sent out a leaflet advising householders that no, their toasters won't explode when the clock strikes 12 but yes, their video recorder may go haywire.

The Government has no such advice for householders but the ESB did prepare a leaflet which suggests that "date dependent" goods such as personal computers, electronic heating control systems and alarms may need to be investigated before New Year's Eve.

It has also been reported that telephone companies around the world are urging their customers not to rush to pick up the phone when midnight strikes. Millennium greeting calls are expected to increase the traffic by 15 to 50 per cent. Telephone companies will be watching Australia and the Pacific region, the first populated areas to ring in the New Year, to see whether the networks fail under the increased level of calls.

For its part, Eircom isn't a bit worried: "We do not want people to avoid making phone calls on New Year's Eve," said a spokeswoman. "We are more than confident that our capacity can cope with any increase in traffic."