Champion boxer Kellie Harrington told how she was “pushed for time” and forgot her Olympic gold medal ahead of her Grand Marshal duties at the St Patrick’s Day parade.
More than 400,000 people lined the streets of Dublin to watch Kellie, alongside Paralympian Ellen Keane lead the Dublin parade, with Irish American actor John C Reilly as our international guest of honour.
Chicago born Reilly dressed the part in a green tweed suit and cap, which was custom made by top tailor Louis Copeland, while sporting heroes Kellie and Ellen donned their gold medals and wore their Olympic tracksuits.
The trio joined together hours before the parade kicked off early this morning – and Kellie admitted she was a bit pushed for time getting out of the house early - even forgetting to bring with her Olympic medal.
She told us: “I was actually quite pushed for time. I jumped up out of the bed. I left Mandy there. I flew down and had my breakfast and then got the show on the road. I was super excited.”
She was so excited that she had forgotten to take her Olympic gold medal she won at the Tokyo games out of the box in her house. A pal rushed back to her home in Portland Row to get it.
Kellie joked waking up ahead of her big day yesterday was a different vibe than when she would wake up ahead of a boxing match.
“It was a different vibe because normally when I wake up for a boxing match, I think ‘what am I doing here?’,” she said laughing.
“I knew what I was doing here today. I actually can’t wait. The memories I have from the parade.”
The Dubliner said as a kid she would always walk the parade route with her dad every year.
“My dad always brought us in. But to be there, to be that person leading the parade is just amazing. All those kids at the barrier looking up and trying to squeeze through and scramble through to get a good spot – that was me. It’s mental.”
Kellie said it was an honour to be part of the celebrations as families from all over Ireland – including families from Ukraine – gathered in the city centre.
“It’s a massive honour. One – for me being inner city, for being a Dub, for being asked to do it with another fellow female athlete ambassador. In the last two years female sports has really grown strength to strength and two females at the top of their game are now Grand Marshals. Isn’t that just fantastic?”
Reilly said he was most looking forward to meeting President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina.
“He’s a special guy. It’s not every day you meet a President. When I tell everyone I’m meeting him, they say have you seen his dogs? His dogs are very nice but he’s also the President, whatever the fascination is with his dogs.”
Meanwhile Ellen revealed there won’t be any time for her to enjoy the celebrations after her parade duties as she is due back in the studio to rehearse for the semi-final of Dancing With The Stars.
She said: “I’m actually going back tonight. Stephen still has Covid, but he’s testing negative now, but I won’t be able to see him until tomorrow so I'm still trying to learn the routine with Ervinas and we’ve a marathon this weekend as well, so we’ve got two dances to learn.
“Usually today I would be in the studio 10am-3pm but I’m going in at 6pm to get a few hours. My goal was to make the final and now I’m so close. It’s nearly stressful now because it is so close. I just want to go the distance.”
Festival organisers revealed that as many as 800,000 people flew into Dublin Airport this week and Festival Director Anna McGowan said the celebrations are “bigger, brighter and better than ever”.
She said: “We’re hearing that 800,000 came through Dublin Airport. What we’re seeing on our side is all our marching bands are here, the Grandstand tickets are completely sold out and that’s a good indication of the footfall.
“The pageant companies have been working on this really for the past two years. I can’t describe to you how emotional it is for the team."
She said she still remembers the moment she was told St Patrick’s Day celebrations had to be cancelled two years ago after Covid-19 gripped the world.
“It was devastating. It is such a monumental occasion that it was unthinkable for it to be cancelled. If you look back on it, it is such an institution.
“Looking back at it now, the whole world shut down. It was a horrible experience.”
Hundreds of thousands of people descended onto Dublin city yesterday to join the festivities after a two-year hiatus. The parade was beamed to over 144 countries yesterday as the world watched marching bands from across the US and Ireland among the dozens of performers who took to the streets.
The theme of this year’s festival was 'Connections' and runs over the course of five days, which is hoped to bring in almost E80million to the economy.
Leading the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin was a message of support to the people of Ukraine.
A banner held at the front read “Strength in Unity” in English, Irish and Ukrainian.
President Michael D Higgins encouraged the nation to enjoy the holiday after two years of “painful sacrifices” as we “emerge from the dark shadow of the pandemic”.
In his annual St Patrick’s Day Message, he said: “Our diaspora and their families in Ireland were called to make difficult painful sacrifices. They at great emotional and personal cost, put the public good ahead of their great human and family desire to be reunited.
“Those postponed reunions I hope will, when they take place for so many of you, be enjoyed with good health and renewed joy.”
But he also reminded us to keep Ukraine in our thoughts as Russia continues to wage war against the nation.
And he used the address to highlight the thousands of Irish families, among others, who have taken in refugees for having “open hearts”.
He said: “A dark shadow has now been cast across our world as we witness the unfolding events in Ukraine.
“I know that the hearts of Irish people and Irish communities across the world go out to all of those who are suffering from this completely unacceptable, immoral and unjustified, invasion and violence to their lives.
“Our greatest hope for a future of hope and peace springs from the open hearts and doors of those saying ‘tar isteach’, come in.
“Let us, as one human family connected through our shared heritage, join with all those who stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they struggle to protect their right to live in freedom, security and peace.”
President Higgins finished by reminding the public how “St Patrick came to Irish shores as an outsider, an exile, a migrant” and that we should “stand in solidarity” with anyone who does the same “who are vulnerable and in need”.
Elsewhere around the country, thousands celebrated the patriotic day with their own local parade and bash.
In Galway, around 30,000 people lined the route of the St Patrick's Day parade.
Led by Olympic medal winner Fiona Murtagh and Frank Downes, who have raised around €3 million for the Irish Guide Dogs charity, the theme of the 2022 Galway parade was 'Síocháin'.
That was most visibly represented by a group of Ukrainians living in the city, who were given continual applause as they marched near the top of the parade.
In Tralee, Kerry, the theme of the parade was "Let's Go Green", to celebrate the impending completion of a 13km greenway between the town and the port village of Fenit.
The greenway, which runs along the route of an old railway line, will be opened in the coming weeks.
Local cycling club, The Chain Gang, shared the front of the parade in Tralee with 12 Little Heroes, children who were inducted into An Garda Síochána especially for the day.
More than 50 groups took part in the parade in Tralee, including many local sports clubs.
In Cork, over 50,000 people attended the festivities which got underway in Cork city centre shortly after 1pm. The theme of the parade was Heroes — Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times.
A charity which played a vital role in the transportation of blood samples, medication, equipment and human donor milk to medical centres all over Ireland throughout the pandemic has served as the Grand Marshal of the Cork city Patrick’s day parade.
Martin O'Driscoll, Chairman of Blood Bike South, joked that the volunteers were surprised to find themselves out in daylight hours — much less in such a prestigious role.
“As a group that usually operates in the dead of night, being seen in the light of day and in front of the people of Cork that we serve, is a true honour for our hard-working volunteers. We are usually covered up with helmets!
We were formed in 2012 so it is our 10th anniversary this year. At the moment we have about sixty five volunteers on our books.
“We have two people on shifts on any given evening. One for out of town cover and one for city cover. A lot of the out of town cover would be to Dublin because there are specialist labs there but also Galway and Limerick.
“There is also the human breast milk runs brought from Enniskillen usually on a Sunday and we do deliveries with that. Anything a hospital asks us to carry if we can carry it we do it.
“We are nothing special. We just do our work and get on with it. We are delighted (to be grand marshals) of the parade.”
Participants included Rebel Wheelers, Mayfield GAA, the Indian Community Cork, the Cork Barrack Street Band, Sanctuary Runners and the Rising Sun School of Karate.
It featured over 2,500 local community participants and visiting groups from the United States - including Massachusetts State Troopers, Philadelphia Irish Trad Tours and the Bixby Ruby group from Oklahoma.
An Garda Siochána were represented by the Regional Ceremonial Unit, retired members and present-day Garda staff, along with a vintage Vauxhall Victor car, which was used for President Nixon's visit to Ireland in 1971.
National arts organisations joining the parade include LuxE from Donegal, who brought a special Parade of Rainbows to Cork this year. Locally, arts organisations Cork Community Art Link and Cork Puppetry Company delighted young children with a giant granny and a huge heart floats.
Polish support group, Together Razem, were led out by recent Ukrainian arrivals to Cork. They were in turn supported by individuals from Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Georgia and Lithuania. The group received a rapturous reception from the crowd with the annual sea of green white and gold flags being interspersed with Ukrainian flags in a show of solidarity with individuals from the war torn country.
Throughout the northwest, Ukrainian families, frontline healthcare workers and GAA stars were among those honoured at St Patrick’s Day parades.
Recent arrivals from Ukraine to Leitrim were chosen to lead the St Patrick’s Day parade in Carrick on Shannon, while healthcare workers were honoured at the festivities in Boyle Co Roscommon.
Colm McGrath, President of Carrick chamber of commerce which organised the celebration in the town, said they had invited recently arrived Ukrainian refugees to be grand marshals “to show that the people of Carrick and of Leitrim stand beside them at this time”.
Mr McGrath who has welcomed three generations of one Ukrainian family into his home said there had been an outpouring of support in the county for people whose lives have been turned upside down, and the parade was an opportunity to show solidarity.
He found himself driving to Shannon one night recently when an email arrived to the chamber pleading for help finding accommodation urgently for a grandmother, her daughter and four-year-old-grandson.
The organisers of the St Patrick’s Day parade in Boyle, Co Roscommon used the opportunity to pay tribute to healthcare staff for their contribution during the pandemic.
The grand marshals in Boyle who were chosen from two local nursing homes were nurse, Shini Joy from the Plunkett nursing care unit and Cathy Weston director of care at Drumderrig House .
“It’s just a way to say thank you to all health care workers who have been through a lot for the last two years,” said Lorcan Egan, one of the parade organisers.
In Sligo, mayor of the town, Councillor Arthur Gibbons, urged the crowd to try and forget their cares for the day. “This is a day for the Irish all over the world,” he said. “We have had a horrible two years of lockdown which brought the country nearly to its knees”.
The Sinn Fein councillor acknowledged the pain caused by the war in Ukraine and said it was important to send a message “of love and luck” from Irish people.
“I would say to people, leave your worries to tomorrow and have this day to remember,” he added.
