Ireland Will Wax Nostalgic on Dec. 31

DUBLIN, Ireland — The Irish government said Wednesday that it plans to deliver a candle to every home in the country, to be lighted as the last rays of 1999 fade on New Year’s Eve.

“The idea is that shortly after 4 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, everybody in the country will light their candles in what we see as a very simple, very symbolic, secular ceremony to mark the end of the millennium,” Tom Rowley of the government-appointed National Millennium Committee said.

In the next few weeks, the postal service will distribute a candle, presentation box and scroll to each of the republic’s 1.3 million homes. A fire safety campaign will be carried in the media leading up to Jan. 1, Rowley said.

The “Last Light” plan was almost snuffed out when organizers realized that the candles would not fit the average Irish letterbox. But the postal service agreed to deliver them person to person.