Hundreds gather at hoax Dublin Halloween parade
· BBC NewsHundreds of people gathered in Dublin city centre on Thursday night for a Halloween parade which turned out to be a hoax.
It's understood a rumour circulated online that a parade was due to take place on O'Connell Street.
Pictures on social media show crowds lining the road waiting for the parade to begin.
Gardaí (Irish police) released a statement saying that no Halloween parade was scheduled and asking for those who turned out to "disperse safely".
The size of the crowds caused a brief disruption to the Luas tram network, with parts of the Red and Green line services out of operation for about half an hour.
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Among those on O'Connell Street for the expected festivities was Hashel Thilanka.
Speaking to BBC News NI, Mr Thilanka said that he was "disappointed" that the event had not been identified as fake before it was due to start.
He said he gathered with others for an hour before being informed by members of the Gardaí that the event was not happening.