At least two of this weekend’s main events will require viewing from behind closed fingers on the couch – the crucial Ireland v France World Cup play-off and the nail-biting X-Factor competition.
Both the match and the television talent show featuring Irish hopefuls – the Lucan twins known collectively as ‘Jedward’ – kick off at 8pm.
A Garda traffic plan is in place for the match and gardaí have advised patrons travelling to the stadium to use public transport where possible.
There are two supervised car parks in the vicinity of Croke Park – one with 3,100 spaces at Clonliffe College (access from Lower Drumcondra Road) and another at O’Connell’s School on North Richmond Street (access from North Circular Road). Special needs parking is available at both locations.
No traffic will be permitted to leave the car parks for a period after the match, in order to allow patrons to leave safely. An Garda Síochána has warned that illegally parked vehicles will be impounded or clamped and will be liable to a fine of €130.
On Sunday, Croke Park will host the Ireland v Australia rugby fixture at 3pm.
Other events at the weekend include Art Fair 09 at the RDS Main Hall in Ballsbridge, Dublin.
At 4pm tomorrow, Saturday, the organisers promise a “lively” discussion on the question of whether the arts are indispensible to national recovery.
Participants will include artist Mark O Kelly, curator and arts consultant Oliver Dowling, and Sean McCarthaigh, director of public affairs with the Arts Council of Ireland.
The event is open from 11am to 7pm on Saturday and from 11am to 6pm on Sunday.
The Off the Rails fashion event takes place at the RDS Simmonscourt from 9.30am to 8pm on both Saturday and Sunday.
Christmas on Ice also opens at the RDS this weekend, with hourly sessions from 10.50am to 10.30pm.
In Co Tipperary, the Cashel Arts Festival – now in its seventh year - opened today and continues until November 22nd. The 10-day festival combines music, dance, visual art, theatre, comedy, talks, poetry, street performance, family and children's events.
According to the organisers, it provides opportunities “for all sections of the community to engage with a variety of art disciplines in an enjoyable and meaningful way”.
Saturday’s events in Cashel include the annual church choirs competition at 2pm, and a “not to be missed” concert by Anuna at 8.15pm at St John the Baptist Cathedral, John Street.
In Co Offaly, the annual Irish Farmers JournalQueen of the Land festival, hosted by the local branch of Macra Na Feirme, takes place in Tullamore.
The contestants will be interviewed on stage at the Court Hotel at 9.15pm on Saturday and the winner will be announced at 11.45pm on Sunday.
The Cork Arts Theatre on Carrolls Quay hosts the One-Act Drama Fest this weekend.
Tonight at 8pm, Blue Hat Productions (Whitechurch) will perform Commencing by Jane Sheppard, the Wayside Players from Enniscorthy will perform Stephen Bean’s A Little Box of Oblivion, and Bray-based Martello Productions will perform The Nightingale and Not the Lark by Jennifer Johnston.
Tomorrow at 7.30pm, Fermoy-based Take 5 are on stage with Elaine May’s The Way of all Fish and the Swan Theatre Group will perform The Extraordinary Revelations of Orca The Goldfish by David Tristram. Bray Arts will perform The Librarian by James Pideaux.
In Castlebar, Co Mayo, the Steve Earle plays at the Royal Theatre. Doors open at 7.30pm and the gig will be followed by dancing with Declan Nerney.
On the weather front, the outlook for the weekend is bleak. Met Éireann forecasts very wet weather for the rest of the weekend and early next week.
But after a cold start, things will get gradually milder and although still unsettled, it is likely there will be more in the way of dry spells developing. Sunday is likely to be cool and windy with a mixture of sunny spells and scattered heavy rain or hail showers and a risk of some thunderstorm activity. There will be further heavy and possibly thundery showers on Sunday night, Met Éireann said.
Monday is expected to be cool and fresh with sunny spells and scattered heavy showers. It will remain rather cool on Tuesday and Wednesday with sunny spells and scattered showers. The rest of the week will be milder.