THE FIRST St Patrick’s Day parade for 2012 in Australia took place in Brisbane on Saturday, a week before most others around the world.
Thousands looked on as dancers, bands and stilt-walkers including Elkie McConnell and Leila Cuttle paraded along the two-mile route. It was led down Elizabeth Street by six mounted police.
“We are not Irish at all but for this big occasion we are Irish in spirit, or should I say spirits,” said Cuttle with a laugh that came down from her 10ft-high stilts.
Eamon Gaffney, president of the Queensland Irish Association, said the city was “proud to have the first parade”.
He said Brisbane has “always held our parade on the Saturday before St Patrick’s Day”.
It was a first also for the newly appointed Irish Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Noel White from Carlow, who only arrived here five weeks ago.
“People have been so welcoming and this is a brilliant parade in Brisbane . . . and it’s a great credit to them,” said the ambassador.
“Brisbane is the first of many parades and clearly I’ve hit on the right time for attending such key events which are important for Ireland abroad. This is a huge platform for Ireland internationally, here in Australia, especially where there is a fantastic Irish community spanning several generations.
“The embassy will be supporting and attending all the major parades and next weekend Minister [for Justice] Alan Shatter will be here for parades in Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra, as well as one in Auckland New Zealand,” he said.
“It’s a great time to showcase Ireland at its absolute best . . . It’s a message of confidence and one that we are back in business,” he added.
The ambassador said the Brisbane parade was not just an Irish parade but a big day for all in the city and it displayed a “cross-generational presence”. Those present included many emigrants who had recently arrived as well as the children and grandchildren of people who settled here in the past.
Saturday’s parade cost more than $100,000 (€80,000) to host. Much of it comes from Irish-Australian functions, but for 2012 Emirates Airlines, which now flies daily from Brisbane to Dublin, has also come on board as a major sponsor.
“In a true Irish spirit the parade went off without a hitch and almost 1,000 people were marching while countless thousands were cheering and watching, three and four deep on the footpaths,” said Ray Brownhill, acting superintendent of the Brisbane Police.
“It was a wonderful atmosphere and the public behaved themselves impeccably in the great Irish spirit,” he added.