Tens of thousands of mid landers turned out yesterday to celebrate St Patrick's Day with colourful parades in virtually every town and village.
Mullingar, where over 20,000 thronged the streets, topped the crowd league. The town band led the colourful event.
The celebrations began early in Tullamore when more than 5,000 people crammed into O'Brien Park on Thursday night for a fireworks display to get the festivities under way.
Yesterday's parade featured 24 floats and seven bands, one from Belarus which also took part in the Athlone and Clara parades.
Taking the salute in Tullamore was the Minister for Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke, who also attended the Clara and Lanesboro parades. She was one of the few Ministers to remain in the State for the holiday. The Minister joked that until yesterday she was technically running the country as only the Minister for Sport, Dr McDaid, and herself remained at home.
A number of bands from Northern Ireland and a Macnas-style theatre group from London took part in both the Portlaoise and Portarlington parades.
Lanesboro, Co Longford, staged the first floating St Patrick's Day event. Over 20 craft took part to celebrate the links between Lough Ree and the town.