Preparations well underway for St Patrick’s Day parade in Buncrana

Preparations are well underway for this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in Buncrana following fears that the event might not go ahead this year after the long-serving organising committee stood down.

Mickey McHugh and Cllr Nicholas Crossan have passed the baton on to a new committee. Cllr Crossan wished the new committee every success for the future of the parade. 

“After 30 years, we took the decision to step down from the parade, and thankfully we have a new committee who have come forward to keep it going,” Cllr Crossan said.

“St Patrick’s Day has always been a brilliant day out for the family, and the parade has always been very well supported, so we would like to take the opportunity to wish the new committee well for the future, and we know that it is in good hands”.

The new chair of the committee, Ryan Stewart, said he is looking forward to an exciting, fun parade in the town. More than 20 floats are due to take part.

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“Our new committee has only been formed a matter of weeks, but the people in the team are very capable and energised for the future of the parade. Thanks to the work of the previous committee, it has been a fairly smooth handover, and we are engaging with lots of groups in the area. There will be some really fun events coming up for the kids in the lead-up to the parade, including a ‘snake hunt’ which is being run by Glor Inis Eoghain as part of Seachtain na Gaeilge, and lots of other music and entertainment as well, not to mention some really creative floats.

“We also have a lot of creative people on the new team, so you can expect some surprises this year for sure.”

The Buncrana parade starts at 3pm on March 17 and will follow the usual routes around the town. Motorists and visitors are advised to  take note of traffic plans and to follow any diversions which will be in place.