Two Dublin City councillors are to table an emergency motion calling for the cancellation of the St Patrick's Day parade over fears it may contribute to the spread of the coronavirus.
Independent councillors Anthony Flynn and Christy Burke will bring the motion before the Central Area Committee of the council.
There have now been 21 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Republic of Ireland and many local parades around the country have already been cancelled.
Councillor Flynn urged DCC to cancel the flagship city centre parade in the interest of public safety.
He said: "Public safety must be priority, experts are warming of mass outbreak. All precautions must be in place."
The meeting is set to take place on Tuesday morning at 10am.
The full motion reads: "That this committee requests that Dublin City Council immediately cancels the St Patrick's Day parade.
"With increasing numbers contracting the COVID-19 infection and the risk to public safety this council must put public safety first."
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar urged event organisers not to cancel events last week but added the Government continued to closely monitor the situation.
He said: “We are asking people not to act unilaterally, whether that’s school principals, or creche owners, business owners or event organisers.
“We’re asking people not to act unilaterally because that causes problems in itself.
“We have to act in concert and if the response needs to be escalated, we should escalate it all together.
“In terms of events, and detailed guidance is being issued today on events and mass gatherings, we’re not recommending at this stage that any major events be cancelled, but that of course will be kept under review."
