‘I just think we’re deadly’: St Patrick parades begin across Ireland

Families and tourists thronged the streets in cities and towns across Ireland for St Patrick’s Day.

Parades are being held in Dublin, Belfast, and Cork, while in Jessie Buckley’s native Killarney they are marking her Oscars win with a float dedicated to successful people from the Co Kerry town.

Children and visitors gathered in Dublin’s streets wearing tricolour glasses, leprechaun hats, decorative green face glitter and clusters of shamrocks.

Eleven-year-old Dubliner Rian Doyle said that being Irish was about celebrating Irish achievements, while Karen Van Brakel from Holland said it was about the Irish value of bringing people together.

Two school friends from the Philippines, Anna May and Primrose, were dressed in green t-shirts and sparkly shamrock face paint.

Anna May said it was her first St Patrick’s Day parade, while Primrose, who is an Irish citizen, has been to many.

“This is my first time seeing a big parade, so I would like to experience the culture of Ireland, plus I think St Patrick is one of the most famous festivals,” Anna May said.

“We’re Catholic as well,” Primrose said.

Jessica McGuinness from Finglas brought her three-year-old son Jack for a Shamrock shake before going to the front spot near Parnell Street.

“He loves the marching bands and the flags,” she said.

Rian Doyle said he and his sister Kelly, nine, have been to the Dublin parade for several years and said he likes the fun of the singing, dancing and marching.

“It’s a religious tradition, but also to celebrate Ireland and all we’ve done over the years.”

Karal and Karen Van Brakel from Holland said they had planned to be in Dublin for a holiday and did not realise it was St Patrick’s Day.

They said Irish people were the reason St Patrick’s Day was so popular.

“It’s because they believe in something, in happiness, and also to connect each other. It doesn’t matter where you come from,” Karen said.

The Irish capital’s parade – comprising 12 large floats and more than 3,000 participants – runs from Parnell Square in the north of the city, down Dublin’s main thoroughfare, O’Connell Street, and ends at the Cuffe Street/Kevin Street junction on the south side of the city.

Performers in the parade include Macnas, Bui Bolg, Spraoi, the Inishowen Carnival Group, and The Outing Queer Arts Collective.

The Rotunda Hospital, located near the start of the parade, has its first float designed by ArtFX.

TV presenter and podcaster Vogue Williams, who is the grand marshal of this year’s parade, said she could not sleep last night with the excitement.

Asked why she was proud to be Irish, she said: “I just think we’re deadly. We just are, and we annoyingly gravitate towards each other as well.

“Even in London, I’ve got my group of Irish friends; you go away, you’re looking for an Irish bar.

“We all just love hanging out with each other, and I just think you meet an Irish person, and you’re bound to have a good night.”

She said she is “back in her parade era” and said the parade would show visitors “a really good time”.

When told the Dublin mayor Ray McAdam was keen to meet her, she said: “Oh fantastic, maybe he’ll let me wear his necklace.”

“You can be done for treason for wearing the Lord Mayor’s necklace, apparently,” chief executive of the St Patrick’s Festival Richard Tierney told her.

“Really? We’ll see.”

The theme of the Dublin parade is celebrating people and roots, and will feature marching bands from Scotland and eight from the US: Ohio, Arizona, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Mississippi, Indiana and Texas.

Irish premier Micheal Martin, who is due to meet US president Donald Trump in the Oval Office later on Tuesday, has also emphasised the depth of the link between Ireland and the US during engagements in Philadelphia and Washington DC.