Millennium Matters

Q. What's Ireland doing for the millennium, and will the pubs be open all night?

A. Unlike Britain where the pubs have a continuous 72-hour licence over the millennium, we've still to get our act together on this most crucial of issues and while it is unlikely we'll be able to spend the full three days in the pub (on a 24-hour basis) there will be a general relaxation of our medieval licensing laws. What has been decided though, is that December 31st this year will be a public holiday - which allows for a four-day millennium holiday because of the weekend - although this act of largesse comes with a strict admonition that it is to be a "once off" holiday.

Perhaps the strangest idea for the millennium, and it remains an idea at present, is the proposal to move the All-Ireland Hurling Final to New Year's Day and turn it into a four-hour televised extravaganza of Irish music, dance and sport. This idea comes with the suggestion to the GAA that they allow free entry to the event. Other unusual ideas being mooted, however anachronistic, include the placing of an image of the Holy Family close to the base of the proposed Spike/Needle in O'Connell Street with a bright light for the Star of David at the top.

There's also been a call for the reintroduction of golden eagles: The Irish Raptor Study Group want the birds brought to Glenveagh National Park; a suggestion to light up the Martello towers dotted around the coast in the run-up to December 31st and in keeping with our cultural heritage of making money from tourists, an idea for a business venture selling time capsules to the Irish-American community - the time capsules would be buried in the Inishowen Peninsula.

Overseeing all the millennium matters is the Government-appointed National Millennium Committee. Members of the committee, chaired by Minister Seamus Brennan, include Lochlann Quinn (chairman of the AIB group), journalist and writer Deirdre Purcell, Ronan Keating from Boyzone, Howard Kilroy (the governor of the Bank of Ireland group) and U2's manager, Paul McGuinness.

The committee has a budget of £30 million to spend over 1999 and 2000 and at present has over 400 projects for consideration. The public are also contributing ideas galore and the committee has dealt with over 1,200 telephone calls and several hundred letters since January 1st. It wouldn't be a real committee without "themes" and for the millennium these will be "partnership, children, religious celebration, the environment, reconciliation, recognition and celebration".

Ignoring the suggestion from this quarter that the £30 million could be spent buying everyone on the island three free drinks, 25 per cent of the budget has already been earmarked for environmental matters, including the planting of four great forests in each province, a boardwalk along the Liffey from O'Connell Street to Capel Street and the development of the Lee Valley amenity plan in Cork.

A further 20 per cent will go the arts and culture, with proposals including major theatrical productions, the commissioning of new musical compositions and TV and film documentaries being considered. Fifteen per cent will go to innovation and technology projects, with proposals for science parks, interactive technology playgrounds and most importantly, an idea to make the Internet and email available to everyone in the country who wants it. A further 15 per cent will go to religious projects and ideas here include the floodlighting of churches of architectural significance, the replacement of spires and bell-towers, and the reopening of ancient pilgrim paths.

Another 15 per cent will go to children's projects, which will mainly tackle the juvenile literacy problem, help build a children's museum and develop forest walks specially adapted for children's enjoyment. Allied to these plans is the Children's Hour fund-raising initiative, where every employed person is asked to give their last hour's pay of the millennium to an overall children's charity fund.

The remaining money will be spent on a "mixed bag" of ideas, some of which are "visionary", some "funny" and some "a little bizarre" according to the committee. Speaking of which, an idea has been mooted which involves building four Viking ships and tying them to quays around Dublin city. The public will be asked to deposit "written or spoken recollections" in the ships and on December 31st, the ships will be towed out to Dublin Bay and burned. Still, it will save on the firework budget.