Dublin’s Christmas lights have been switched on. 

The likes of Grafton Street, South William Street and Capel Street have been lit up six weeks ahead of Christmas Day. 

The lights were turned on by a child at Temple Street Children’s Hospital which links up with city centre business group DublinTown for the lights. 

According to city centre business group DublinTown, the lights stretch to approximately 4km in total, consisting of over one million low energy LED light bulbs, with over 300,000 individual light bulbs on Grafton Street alone. 

Bewley’s Café played host to a live broadcast of the ceremony as the lights were turned on at 6.54pm this evening.

Richard Guiney, chief executive of DublinTown said the ceremony holds special significance for its assortment of business owners given the difficulties they have faced throughout the pandemic. 

“This year the erecting of the Christmas lights means so much more than any other year and we would ask people to come and support the city centre businesses at this special time. Stores have been gearing up for Christmas and are ready to meet customer needs,” Guiney said. 

Christmas experience

“Shopping and socialising in the city centre of Dublin under the iconic Christmas lights is a key Christmas experience for many. We invite everyone to come to town and make new Christmas memories.”

“The DublinTown Christmas lights are by far the biggest task that we undertake for our business members and people of Dublin each year,” he added.

“Post-Covid, we all want to see a vibrant capital city and to make that a reality we need to make sure we support city businesses at this vital time, and if purchasing on-line the public are encouraged to buy from sites that support Irish jobs.”

For more information see DublinTown.ie.

For festive activities, family fun, shopping, socialising and special offers, Christmas starts here, see DublinTown.ie and follow #DublinTownChristmas and #WinterinDublin throughout the season to be kept up to date with all the city’s festive activities.