Dublin city centre quiet as shoppers stay home to watch the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
Dublin city centre is missing its usual buzz as shoppers stay at home to watch the television broadcast of the Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
A street cleaner observes there is a noticeable lack of people and traffic on Grafton Street. A business owner notes the Royal Wedding combined with the bus strike is having a bad effect on trade. A flower seller agrees,
It’s very bad, everybody’s gooing at the telly.
According to the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) figures, the national load was abnormally up by around 8% by 10 am, the equivalent of 180 thousand television sets going on.
The official city report is of a pretty slack morning and taxi drivers note business is down by 50%,
Like a Sunday.
All of the big department stores are empty and at McDowells Jewellers the 'Happy Ring House' on O'Connell Street, there is a distinct lack of custom for wedding rings,
Maybe in the afternoon things will pick up.
Only the banks seem unaffected by the Royal Wedding, describing the day as being like an average Wednesday.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 29 July 1981. The reporter is Brendan O’Brien.
