Local people in Dublin's Ballymun will this evening hold a wake to mark the passing of the Ballymun flats in advanceof demolition work starting tomorrow morning.
The wake, hosted by local arts and community group AXIS , willinclude music, readings, theatre and dance.
It will run from 6 to 11 p.m. this evening on the plaza outside McDonagh Tower and beside P earse Tower, the first of the 15-storey blocks to be demolished.
At 6.30 p.m. local will children will perform a specially commissioned pageant and at 10.00 p.m. McDonagh Tower will be illuminated and an incantation by Dublin novelist and playwright Dermot Bolger will be performed, followed by live traditional music.
A visitors' book and art wall will be provided for visitors to record their memories and stories about life in the flats.
Over 20,000 invites have been issued to the event - predominantly to local residents - but organisers are stressing that like any wake invites are not necessary to attend.
It is expected that a number of well-known Irish artists will turn up to perform although organisers are not releasing names in advance of the wake.