Blood on the docks as River Liffey runs red

The River Liffey was temporarily transformed today from the familiar greenish-brown sludge snaking through Dublin city to a more vibrant rust-red.

Promoters of the Dublin Fringe Festival had hoped to cause a collective dropping of jaws in the capital by dyeing the river "hot pink".

While the dye job failed to meet the expected level of electric vibrancy, the newly russet-coloured Liffey provided a talking point for curious onlookers.

The Magnet Entertainment Dublin Fringe Festival organisers had been given the green light for the pink project by Dublin City Council, Dublin Port and the Harbourmaster, Captain David Dignam.

Artistic director of the festival Wolfgang Hoffmann said this year's fringe was "all about making Dublin city visible in new ways to both those who live here and visitors alike.

"We want to invite people to pause in the middle of their busy day and experience something, like the river Liffey, in a fresh light. Pink being the Fringe's trademark colour we thought what better way to add a splash of colour and bring new life to our city!"

Two hours after high tide at 1pm, a liquid dye was poured from a speedboat across the breadth of the river at Capel Street bridge.

The dye will be washed out towards the mouth of the river as the tide goes out. According to the organisers, the colour transformation will last a maximum of two tides, or 12 hours.

Festival organisers said the Rodemine WTD dye does not contain any hazardous ingredients.

"As it is a tracing dye used in the most sensitive environmental areas it is not anticipated that any surfaces (river walls, seaweed etc) will be stained in any manner and no animal life will be affected," the organisers said in a statement.

The Fringe Festival - an annual programme of contemporary performance, dance, theatre and music - runs until September 24th.