The Dublin St Patrick’s Day festivities were “a good-natured success” with more events yet to come over the next two days as well as the Six Nations rugby match in the city on Saturday .
While a big clean-up got under way in the city on Friday the fun continues with a daily line-up at the Festival Quarter in Collins Barracks. Events include ceol agus craic at the 3,000 capacity outdoor main stage, craic comedy tent, a story yurt, performance spaces, relaxation areas and an Irish food and craft village.
Traders association Dublin Town said the first St Patrick’s Day parade in the city since 2019 seemed to attract more visitors from overseas, with Irish people still seemingly down in numbers.
But overall footfall monitored by a network of cameras in the streets was 470,000 – above the 423,000 figure for 2019.
Dublin Town which sends camera data to the UK for conversion into anonymised numbers of people said the result was that some 315,000 people were on the streets, slightly higher than the 300,000 for 2019.
The Garda said there had been no incidents of significant anti-social behaviour during the day and into the evening.
Richard Guiney of Dublin Town said the event was good natured with a lot of overseas visitors. While numbers were higher than 2019 Mr Guiney said he recalled 2019 as being “very cold” . He noted a large number of American accents which he said was a positive sign that US visitors who spend heavily and stay longer were travelling to Ireland once again.
He also said the number of Scottish people in the city was remarkable, judging from the numbers of kilts visible. The Scottish would be staying for the Ireland-Scotland rugby match on Saturday and were welcome, he added.
St Patrick’s Day was only the second day since the pandemic began that footfall in the capital had exceed corresponding levels in 2019, said Mr Guiney. He expects further improvement, particularly when more office workers return to their city desks.
Being Irish
Anna McGowan, interim director at the St Patrick’s Festival, said the festival parade “ reminded us all just how important it is to celebrate being Irish no matter where in the world we may be”.
Fáilte Ireland chief executive Paul Kellysaid the parade and events over the bank holiday weekend showcase Ireland “as a fantastic tourist destination to people around the world. Festivals and events play a key role . . . supporting jobs and revenue generation.”
From 6pm each evening, Festival Quarter by Night is reserved for adults only. Organisers promise “ the very best in Irish entertainment from music to comedy and all that’s in between”.
Taking to the stages throughout the festival are singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey alongside Kevin Mc Gahern, Emma Doran and Neil Delamare. Rising stars Mango X MathMan are lined up for Friday with the Trinity Orchestra and rap star Malaki. Le Boom are also set to make an appearance, joined by the Glasshouse Orchestra plus guest Æ MAK.
