Organisers of the St Patrick's festival are angry that the Department of Transport and Luas have refused to take down the overhead cables that cross O'Connell Street to allow floats to pass during the St Patrick's Festival Parade.
Organisers of the St. Patrick's Festival claimed it was the Luas' national duty to take down the lines for these celebrations. Luas operators have agreed to turn off the power in the overhead cables, but will not take the cables down.
As a result of this decision theatrical pageants in this year's Festival Parade will need to be less than 5.5m in height in order to safely pass under the Luas cables running along Abbey Street. Organisers say some of the tallest pageants reached heights of almost 12m last year.
Participating pageant companies have made the necessary last-minute adjustments so people will still be able to enjoy the parade, but organisers are concerned that in future years both the scale and spectacle of the world-class parade will be diminished and the public might lose interest in what has until now been a day to showcase the creative talents of Ireland.
Chief Executive of the Festival Donal Shiels said, "The Luas have known about this issue for sometime now. I understand that to take down the Luas overhead cables would take no more than 5 hours. On the one day of the year when the whole world watches Dublin it is not an unreasonable request to let
our national celebrations pass without having to worry about overhead restrictions".