A change of culture in our St Patrick's Day activities is happening, according to the CEO of Dublin's St Patrick's Festival.
However, there were numerous reports of unsavoury incidents to phone-in radio shows yesterday.
The chief executive officer of the St Patrick's Day Festival in Dublin, Ms Maire Moynihan, said the whole idea of the festival was to give people an alternative to spending the national holiday in the pub. Overall it was working.
"All our events are free and alcohol-free, and our objective is to make the day accessible to everyone, safe and non-intimidating. Since we started the festival nine years ago, the culture is beginning to change."
Gardaí reported that despite the crowds the level of trouble was similar to that on a Saturday night.
A spokesman for Garda HQ in Phoenix Park said there were a total of 50 arrests in Dublin city centre on Wednesday.
"There were 500,000 people in the city centre; the majority went to enjoy the parade and went home again."
Despite the crowds there was no major trouble, according to gardaí in Galway and Cork.
Gardaí in Limerick described the night as "similar to a weekend night".
Staff at Beaumont hospital reported that they were busy during the night and "quite busy" yesterday morning.
"We had people who had glasses and bottles smashed in their faces during the night, and then we had people arriving in the morning realising they were in pain after they sobered up," said a member of staff.