Torchlight procession lights up start of festival to celebrate all things Irish

The year-long salute to all things Irish got under way last evening with a torchlight procession through the streets of Dublin as the Gathering officially kicked-off with a New Year’s Eve festival.

It is the first in a year-long calendar of events organised to celebrate Ireland, its people and its connections, at home and abroad.

Thousands of people took to the streets of the capital for the People’s Procession of Light, a fireworks display and a concert in College Green, headlined by Imelda May and Bell X1.