Dublin portal links with Vilnius in Lithuania and Poland’s Lublin

The Dublin portal is now be connected to two more cities, in addition to its existing New York City connection, Dublin City Council has announced.

People on North Earl Street will be able to see Vilnius in Lithuania and Lublin in Poland.

The live streams will rotate every 180 seconds, beginning from 1pm Irish time on Monday.

The portal idea originated in Lithuania in 2021, connecting Vilnius and Lublin.

While previously connected in pairs (New York City to Dublin and Vilnius to Lublin), this latest development is a step towards the project’s original mission by evolving from two-city connections to a “global artwork that invites people from multiple countries to meet in a spirit of unity”.

The Dublin portal has attracted more than 340,000 visitors since its launch in May and has brought “a new lease of life to North Earl Street”, said city Lord Mayor James Geoghegan.

“We are delighted to see the network of cities expand to Vilnius and Lublin and look forward to seeing more people enjoy the portals’ experience.”

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The Vilnius portal is positioned adjacent to the city’s central station and the Lublin one is situated on the central city Litewski Square.

Having been at the centre of global media attention, the portals have generated billions of online impressions and attracted an average of 25,000 weekly visitors on-site in Dublin. On the Flatiron South Plaza in New York City, foot traffic surged by 47 per cent over the 2023 monthly average.

“We can discover how similar we all are through the use of portals, which connect us to a shared network that brings people from different places and cultures closer together,” said Aušrinė Armonaitė, minister of the economy and innovation of Lithuania.

Founder and artist Benediktas Gylys said it was always the mission to build multiple portals and it took “eight years to arrive at this special day. We are grateful for the consistent support from our partners in Dublin, New York City, Vilnius, and Lublin. The current four portals form the foundation of a network that will expand later this year.”

The network rotation is active daily from 1pm to 8pm in Dublin, 8am to 3pm in New York City, 2pm to 9pm in Lublin, and 3pm to 10pm in Vilnius. More portal locations are being added to the network later this year.