A clock placed in the Liffey at O'Connell Bridge in Dublin will count down the 120 million seconds to the year 2000.
A large crowd gathers in Dublin between O'Connell Bridge and the Ha'penny Bridge to witness the launch of the Millennium Clock. The twelve metre long timepiece in the River Liffey will count down the 120 million seconds until the end of the century.
The Millennium Clock launch is broadcast live on 'The Late Late Show'. The launch countdown is conducted by Gay Bryne and Joe Duffy, along with Chief Executive of the National Lottery Ray Bates and Minister for Finance Ruairí Quinn.
Ray Bates explains that the National Lottery ran a competition for a design to count down to the new millennium. The winning design is by Dublin based architects Gráinne Hassett and Vincent Ducatez.
Part of the design means visitors to Dublin can buy a postcard for 20 pence from a machine installed on O'Connell Bridge. The postcard will be marked with the time, to the individual second, remaining to the millennium. Therefore, every postcard will be unique.
It will give you the exact seconds to the millennium at that exact moment you bought your postcard for 20 pence.
Minister for Finance Ruairí Quinn reveals his hope for the next one thousand years.
I have one wish and that's for a millennium of peace for everybody on this island.
The launch button for the Millennium Clock is detonated and the countdown to the year 2000 begins. The event closes with an elaborate fireworks display.
This episode of 'The Late Late Show' was broadcast on 15 March 1996. The presenters are Gay Byrne and Joe Duffy.
