By Andy Spearman
Huge congratulations are due to the Drogheda Festivals committee, the Love Drogheda business organisation and everyone ese involved in yesterday’s Saint Patrick’s Day parade in Drogheda It was easily the biggest and best ever. I should kow, I’ve only missed one or two since 1972.
The day started really well for me as within minutes of arriving at Laurence’s Gate, even before the start, I was given a personal blessing by the man himself Saint Patrick. What could possibly go wrong after that? It was a short enough conversation though because Paddy was holding a lethal looking crozier and I certainly didn’t want to receive a belt of that.
Turning down Laurence Street it was immediately obvious that this was going to be a BIG day for a lot of little people. The whole of Laurence Street was thronged and the Tholsel was a sea of green.
The crowd was just huge, the entire parade route was lined on both sides of the streets with thousands of excited little leprechauns and their Mammies and Daddies, craning their necks to get a glimpse of what was coming down the street. One little lad summed it all up in one word: “amaaaaaazzzing!”
Poor old St. Patrick had to carry that heavy crozier but The Grand Marshall for the day, Colin O’Donohgue, was transported in a luxurious fancy open top car with leather seats, I think it was a Bentley.
Colin didn’t look too comfortable in the luxurious transportation however and by the time he arrived in West Street though, he had abandoned the Bentley in favour of Shanks’s mare and was much more at ease, posing for selfies and waving like a Chinese cat which is often seen in shop windows and is supposed to bring good luck for small business owners.
Keep on waving Colin and all you other cool cats, Drogheda’s small businesses can do with plenty of that good luck.
Sorry, where was I? Ah yes, leprechauns; there were thousands of them and they were all hugely excited and on chatting to many of them I was made well aware of the fact that leprechauns are not by any means exclusively Irish.
I met Ukrainian leprechauns as well as Indian, Nigerian, Filipino, Latvians and Chinese and they were all very excited to be wearing the green and waving the green, white and orange flag of this Ireland of the welcomes.
Sorry, where was I again? Yes, West Street was absolutely thronged, never have I seen it so crowded with people and all of then in great humour.
The parade was the biggest ever, It took over an hour to pass the reviewing stand where Alison Comyn was acting as compere, as only she can do, and introducing the various youth groups and bands and all the other participants.
Some of the best participants included a group of lads on the Wogans float (above), who had reproduced the famous black-and-white photograph “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” taken in 1932, of a group of building workers sitting on a steel beam hundreds of feet above the ground in Manhattan.
One environmental group was carrying green snakes made out of paper coffee cups. Then there was a multitude of youth groups including Girl Guides, Scouts, Ladybirds, Karate groups and football teams and hockey teams and much more besides.
All of the rescue services were there too – the Coastguard, River Rescue, RNLI and of course the Fire Service in their big red fire engines were a huge hit with the leprechauns though the sirens were a bit much for many. Sirens are ok if they’re speeding to put out a fire but, when they’re just a couple of feet away they are deafening.
A pride of Lions Club members was next followed by the trishaws of the Drogheda and District Services for Older People and then a big red Chevrolet (below) courtesy of Peggy Moore’s. (I could be wrong, but I think it’s the courtesy car they use to bring customers who’ve had too much to drink home in.)
Anyway, there was no time to ask because I was then confronted by a ferocious looking man in a suit of armour brandishing an axe. I sort of recognised him, I think it was Jason McGabhan, but all I could see of him was his eyes. He was part of a group representing the Viking Experience which takes place in Slane Castle on May 18th and 19th.
Another member of the Viking Group was Shay Callan who stood out from the crowd because, while there were many people there who may have had a chip on their shoulder, Shay was the only one with a raven on his shoulder, I’m just not sure why, must be a Viking thing.
Still, no time to ask because Buzz Lightyear and several other friends from the Integral gym float were wowing the younger crowd and giving out high fives left right and centre.
Then I was almost run over by a sailing ship called the Droichead which was part of the excellent display by the Droichead Arts Centre team which featured a whole armada of smaller sailing ships which were crewed by schoolchildren. Go Maith An Droichead! Just one question: Do you need a special licence to moor a ship in West Street?
Then there were a multitude of dancing troupes of various nationalities including the Indian Family Association of Drogheda from, you guessed it, India. A Brazilian Samba band of dancers and musicians from Dublin (judging by their accents at least).
Bringing up the rear was a group of cyclists on a variety of different bikes all members of the Drogheda Cycling Group who are campaigning for more cycle lanes and other infrastructure to make cycling for pleasure or as a form of transport, safer and more enjoyable.
Altogether it was a great day out, one of sheer enjoyment and positivity in a town that has had far too much negativity of late. I left the parade in great humour, if only I had gone straight home maybe I wouldn’t be feeling so fragile this morning. So much for your blessing Patrick, and you call yourself a Saint!
