Despite fears of a washout, both real and metaphorical, an estimated 100,000 people turned up at Phoenix Park yesterday to welcome home the Irish soccer squad.
Manager Mick McCarthy and several of the players took to the stage to thank the Irish people for their support during the World Cup.
And, in a bonus to the bumper crowd, the rain stayed away all evening.
The squad arrived on stage shortly after 8 p.m. to chants of "olé, olé" and "Ireland". Later, goalkeeper Shay Given led a chorus of "happy birthday" for team-mate Jason McAteer, who turned 31 yesterday.
McCarthy called for a special round of applause for his backroom staff without whom he said he would not have been able to cope.
Physiotherapist Mick Byrne, for whom Japan and Korea was his third World Cup, paid tribute to the players. "They have a passion and pride for their country." He added: "The Japanese people and the Korean people were fantastic to us. We could not have been treated better."
Fears that the event would be a repeat of the 1994 homecoming proved unfounded. Unlike in 1994, when it was mainly young teenagers who attended, there was a healthy mix of young and old in the crowd.
Early fears that the mood would be downbeat after Ireland's traumatic departure from the World Cup in penalties were misplaced. Almost in spite of the organisers, or perhaps even to spite them, the crowd turned what at times sought to be a slickly choreographed event into a passionate and spontaneous show of pride.
Mr Gar Holohan, the event organiser, said he was very happy with the turnout "but what's even better is the atmosphere, and the fact that people are enjoying it. Everyone is here, from toddlers to grannies."
The biggest cheers were reserved for Damien Duff and Robbie Keane. Duff said: "Whether you are in Japan or Korea or back home here, you are the best fans in the world. Thank you very much."
Before the squad hit the stage, the boyband Westlife, dressed in matching Tricolour suits, performed one of their songs, World of Our Own. Even they knew who the stars were last night, however, and a bigger cheer went up when footage of the squad in action at the World Cup was broadcast on two large screens flanking the stage.
Earlier, the crowd was entertained by a number of other bands, including another from the Louis Walsh stable, Six.
The first dozen or so fans arrived at the park as early as 9 a.m. yesterday. By 6 p.m. the crowd had swelled to 40,000. An hour later, gardaí estimated it at 80,000. People were still arriving by the time the squad had taken the stage. A special viewing platform was erected for wheelchair-users and other people with mobility problems. The first 5,000 fans to arrive were given access to an area in front of the stage.
The squad touched down shortly before 5 p.m. at Dublin Airport after an 11-hour flight from Seoul. The public heeded appeals not to turn up at the airport, and only a small crowd gathered there. The squad was taken to a hotel, where they freshened up and met family and friends before travelling to the Phoenix Park by bus. An earlier plan to fly them to the park by helicopter had been ditched "because they wanted to stay together and we could not get a helicopter big enough to take them all at once".
