London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 18, 2025

St Patrick's Day: Thousands gather for events in NI

St Patrick's Day: Thousands gather for events in NI

Thousands of people have been taking part in St Patrick's Day festivities in Northern Ireland.

Among the big events taking place was the parade in Belfast city centre, staged by arts organisation Beat Carnival.

It used the spectacle to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

Celebrations kicked off in County Fermanagh on Thursday night with the inaugural St Patrick's Eve flotilla.

Colourful characters made their way up Slemish Mountain on Friday

People of all backgrounds joined the parade in Newry, County Down

Hundreds lined the streets of Belfast for this year's parade

Friday's music-themed parade in Belfast started at 13:30 with hundreds gathered around City Hall to enjoy musicians and Irish dancers.

David Boyd, director of Beat Carnival - who produced the Belfast parade - said 800 people from across the community were participating this year.

"We decided to have a music theme, Belfast being a Unesco city of music," he said.

The procession included ancient horns of Ireland, traditional folk, disco, punk and a dance rave.

Pipers joined the Belfast parade, which had a music theme this year

The inaugural St Patrick's Eve flotilla on the River Erne, with Enniskillen Castle lit up in green in the background

The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Sinn Féin's Tina Black, was among those enjoying the festvities


Celebrations started early in County Fermanagh with several dozen vessels lit up for the occasion on Thursday evening.

The boats sailed through Enniskillen, past the illuminated castle, and people gathered along the banks of the River Erne to watch them.

Londonderry's streets were packed on Friday, with thousands having come to the city centre to witness a lively parade and colourful performances.

The theme around this year's festivities in Derry was Recycle and Renewal, with some of the participants costumes created from leftover T-shirts from last year's Waterside half marathon.

Irish dancers, drummers and mummers marched through the streets of a rainy Armagh to entertain the thousands who turned out in Ireland's ecclesiastical capital.

The water spectacle continued in Enniskillen, with leprechauns and superheroes among those braving the cold of River Erne with a hydrofoil display.

And on land, parade attendees were brought Back to the Future when St Patrick arrived in a DeLorean.

The Prince and Princess of Wales visit the 1st Battalion Irish Guards at Mons Barracks in Aldershot, England

Actor Patrick Duffy, who played Bobby Ewing in the hit 1980s TV series Dallas, attended the parade in Dublin

Seamus O'Hara returned from a week in Los Angeles for the Oscars to take part in the parade in Newry


Seamus O'Hara, star of Oscar-winning Northern Ireland film An Irish Goodbye, took part in the Newry parade with his GAA club.

Originally from Glens of Antrim, he now lives in Killeavy in County Armagh.

After last week's Oscar success he was hoping to sing happy birthday to his son who turned seven on Friday.

Throughout Friday morning people visited what is believed to be St Patrick's grave in Downpatrick, County Down.

Among them were Sophie and Lucy, who said: "We're going to the parade later, our friend's mum is painting our faces and daddy is going to buy us treats."

Sophie and Lucy were among the first visitors to what is believed to be St Patrick's grave this morning


An early-morning service was held at St Patrick's first church in Saul, County Down, and some of those who attended went on to climb nearby Slieve Patrick.

Stephen Moore and his son Phillip Moore travelled to the church in Saul from Banbridge in County Down.

"We've come a few times because we enjoy the fellowship and to celebrate St Patrick," said Stephen.


Orange Order events


Events were also held in Armagh, Broughshane and Derry by the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys of Derry to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

Orange Order Grand Secretary, Rev Mervyn Gibson, said it was becoming an increasingly special day for the organisation.

"St Patrick is there for everybody on the island of Ireland to celebrate and we celebrate it from an Ulster-British perspective and that's what we'll seek to do in the institution," he told BBC Radio's Evening Extra programme.

He said people might be surprised by the Orange Order's involvement in St Patrick's Day events but he hoped attitudes would shift.

"People tended to think that the 12 July was just for the orange and St Patrick's Day was just for the green, but certainly I don't feel that way," he said.

The leaders of Ireland's main Churches, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh John McDowell (centre), and Catholic Archbishop Eamon Martin (right), were among those celebrating in Armagh


In the Republic of Ireland, up to half a million people descended on Dublin for a parade led by the women's national football team, Irish state broadcaster RTÉ reported.

The parade, the biggest on the island of Ireland, began at Parnell Square at 12:00 local time, with marchers making their way through the city.

Crowds gathered early in Dublin for the Parade through the city centre

About half a million people celebrating in Dublin city centre this year


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
French Debt Downgrade Piles Pressure on Macron’s New Prime Minister
US and UK Near Tech, Nuclear and Whisky Deals Ahead of Trump Trip
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
×