Vogue Williams could scarcely have looked any happier travelling Dublin’s St Patrick’s Day parade route as grand marshal. The only thing brighter than her smile was the sun shining down on those lucky to be lining the streets in unseasonable warmth.
Even in the early morning when she was paraded before the press, she radiated enthusiastic delight, and when asked why she was proud to be Irish, she replied: “I just think we’re deadly.”
The Irish journalists in the room all nodded in agreement.
Williams said she was definitely back in her “parade era” now, having spent her early childhood attending the event, before moving on to her bush-drinking, parade-dodging era as a teenager.
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Chief executive of the St Patrick’s Festival Richard Tierney was all smiles as almost a year’s work came to its sun-blessed climax.
“It’s the national day and a chance for us to domestically and globally showcase what we’re good at, having fun,” he said.
He stressed that it’s not all about the craic, and pointed out that the festival will bring in about 100,000 tourists and generate more than €130 million.
‘Over a billion eyeballs will be on the parade’: St Patrick’s festival chief executive Richard Tierney
“I’d say 50 per cent of the people are coming because it is a bucket list thing and about 25 per cent are spring breakers. Some people have told me they’ve saved three, four years, five years for this,” he continued.
“I think what’s really important is the stories they tell when they get home. The world is a bit of a difficult place at the moment and we rely on people coming to see us. It’s important to put our best foot forward.”
President Catherine Connolly was also putting her best foot forward as she arrived for her first St Patrick’s Day parade as president.
She seemed genuinely delighted by the warm applause of the people closest to her and after she took her seat in the shadow of the GPO, the Army No 1 band ran through a melody including The Irish Rover, Galway Bay, The Wild Rover and Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen, a tune which proved to be a particular crowd pleaser.
As many as 500,000 people watched the parade, which had a theme of celebrating people’s roots and featured 12 floats from companies including Macnas, Buí Bolg, Spraoi and the Outing Queer Arts Collective, as well as marching bands from Clondalkin, the Scottish town of Perth and US states including Ohio, Arizona, Illinois, Mississippi and Texas.
From well before 10am, crowds started streaming into the city seemingly from all corners of the world.
Joyce, Siobhán and Daniel Myles had travelled from Buckinghamshire for their first experience of St Patrick’s Day in Ireland.
“It’s great to tick it off our bucket list, but we celebrate Paddy’s Day every year at home,” said Siobhán. “We’re a very Irish family ... I have been doing Irish dancing since I was eight years old.”
Aujne Cornish and her husband, Joseph Sorrentino, live in Washington state, arrived in Ireland just 24 hours before the parade and were still coming to terms with jet lag.
“We’re adjusting,” said Cornish. “I recently found out I’m 20 per cent Irish, so we wanted to learn a little bit more about the history of the country. Tomorrow we will go to the cliffs and then to Guinness. And we want to meet as many local people as possible.”
The Irish Times didn’t have the heart to tell her the “cliffs” (of Moher, presumably) or the Guinness Storehouse were not necessarily the best places to meet locals as she seemed so delighted by her plan.
As she spoke, Sorrentino nodded enthusiastically. His great-grandfather was born here and he wanted “to walk in the footsteps of my ancestors and to be on the streets that my great-grandfather was on”.
Julia Gonzatti and Cristiano Zanin arrived in Ireland from Brazil in August. “This is our first parade and we’re very excited,” said Gonzatti. “We’re not too cold; the weather is better than it has been so far this year.”
Katie Locke and Mary Jordan Ganeski from Virginia are studying in the south of France and decided to spend their spring break in Ireland and not the beaches they normally frequent.
Poor Locke missed her first night in Ireland with a migraine that forced her to stay in the hotel, but her pal went to Temple Bar. “It wasn’t as crazy as I thought it was going to be. Maybe it’s gonna be more crazy tonight,” she added, hopefully.
Andy and Gráinne Ryan had travelled from Artane with their children, five-year-old Theodore two-year-old Olivia.
“We’re here every year and were at this exact spot last year,” said Gráinne. “The two little ones get so much out of it. They are so excited by the music and the floats and everything. We’re well stocked with an iPhone and snacks and we even have a potty,” she said.
