Millions set to celebrate St Patrick's Day
RTE.ie 17 March 2006 11: 15
Millions of people around the world will celebrate St Patrick's Day today. Hundreds of cities including New York, Sydney and Singapore are marking the event with street festivals and parades.
In Ireland, the biggest parade is being held in Dublin which is expected to attract some half a million spectators. The parade begins at 12.30pm. Measures have been put in place to crack down on disorder on the streets.
Extra gardaí will be on duty, off-licences in the city have been asked not to open before 4pm this afternoon and pub owners have been urged to insure customers do not take alcohol on to the streets.
The World Indoor gold medallist Derval O'Rourke will be among the local sporting heroes leading the Cork city parade which is due to begin at 1pm.
More than 2,000 community group volunteers and bands from Ireland and the US, as well as groups from Togo, Bangladesh, and Shanghai will also take part in the Cork parade.
President Mary McAleese has said St Patrick's Day is a one off celebration for Irish people and their friends at home and abroad.
The President said the Ireland of today was vibrant, cosmopolitan and filled with energy and that international relations were playing an important part in our maturing as a nation.
In the North, nationalist and unionist political parties have backed the first ever official St Patrick's Day parade in Belfast.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Primate, Archbishop Seán Brady has warned against celebrating St Patrick without referring to his Christian faith.
In his message for the national feast day, Archbishop Brady says today unites Irish people everywhere and that the national saint has become a symbol of Irish history and heritage.
However, the Archbishop of Armagh warns that simply reducing St Patrick to this without referring to his Christian faith distorts the truth.
[Modificato da wildusty 17/03/2006 12.39]