Lord Mayor of Dublin Christy Burke officially switched on the lights of Grafton Street at the completion of a €4million repaving project on the Friday before St Patrick’s Day – and they were green.

The lighting has been designed so it can be changed from the ordinary white lights to green for special occasions such as Ireland’s celebrations of its patron saint.

The street has been closed in five separate sections since May 2013 as the old red brick surface has been replaced with granite, some of it Chinese but a significant portion from the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains. KN Networks won the competitive tender to carry out the repaving.

Closing sections of the street at a time meant that as a whole Grafton Street could remain open, causing minimum disruption to the businesses along it and their customers.

The Lord Mayor thanked the businesses for their patience during the work and said: “Following these works, Grafton Street is now an even bigger draw for shoppers and tourists.”

At the start of the work in 2013 Christy Burke’s predecessor, Naoise Ó’Muirí, had said: “Grafton Street is the premier street south of the Liffey – when Grafton Street looks well, the city does well. The repaving is great news for businesses, shoppers and tourists.”

The work is part of the Grafton Street Quarter Public Realm Plan published in 2013, which will see a €14million investment upgrade the largely Victorian area.