Three times world boxing champion and Olympic medal hopeful Katie Taylor will be the Grand Marshall of the Dublin St Patrick’s Day Parade.
Taylor (24) is the latest sports star to be chosen to head the parade and she follows in the footsteps of GAA commentator Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, Ireland goalkeeper Packie Bonner and former world champion Eamonn Coghlan.
Taylor is also the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) World Female Boxer of the Year for last year, a testimony to her domination of the sport.
She suffered a rare defeat last week in controversial circumstances when her Bulgarian opponent apologised for a result which did not reflect Taylor’s dominance of the fight.
Taylor said she was “thrilled” to be asked to be the Grand Marshall. “I’m always proud to represent Ireland but it’s usually in a boxing ring so this will be a completely different experience for me. The parade is always great fun and I’m really looking forward to being involved in the day,” she said.
This year's festival will have a literary theme based on a recent short story by Booker prize-winning author Roddy Doyle called Brilliant about the black dog of depression which stole the city's funny bone.
The story, which is published on the St Patrick’s Day festival website, will be interpreted by many of the pageant companies taking part.
The St Patrick's Festival takes place from Wednesday 16th to Sunday 20th March and the parade takes place as usual on St Patrick’s Day.
