An Post's cards send images of St Patrick's Day throughout the world, but do they reflect reality? asks Rosita Boland.

What do you instantly think of when you think of St Patrick's Day? Sham-rocks? Croziers? A day off? Parades? Green beer? People being drunk and disorderly on the streets?

"To me it means lots of dirt and rubbish and drunks on the street," says artist Graham Knuttel, straight off. "I live in central Dublin and you can't go out on Paddy's Day after about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The streets are dangerous. I feel really sorry for all those old American tourists walking around: it must be the last thing they are expecting."

Knuttel, and fashion designer John Rocha, are the two guest designers for this year's An Post's range of six new St Patrick's Day cards.

Both Knuttel and Rocha have designed greeting cards, which sell at €2.70, with 50 cent from every card going to the charities they have nominated, the Chernobyl Children's Project and Sports Against Racism Ireland. The print run on each card is 150,000.

Knuttel's card is of two suspicious-looking types at the races, one holding a white bag emblazoned with the word "lucky" and a couple of shamrocks. There is a sign over one man's head with a board naming two of the horses as "Ceol" and "Craic". "I always think of Cheltenham when I think of Paddy's week," Knuttel says, explaining why he chose the racing image. "The image isn't specifically about Paddy's Day. It's about a day off. I think the image is something a bit different and it's humorous."

John Rocha's card, which has his name on the front, depicts five crochet shamrocks, each one different. He chose this image because he's "always associated the shamrock with St Patrick's Day and the hand-knit and crochet are crafts that I have used during the years I have been designing. I think it represents Irish traditions, in symbolism and in craft, in colour and in fun."

There are also four St Patrick's Day postcards, at €1.80, in editions of 50,000 each.

One is an enlarged image of An Post's recently released stamp: a stained-glass window of St Patrick.

The other three were chosen as part of a competition for third-level design students, with the brief being to design cards which which fell into any of these six categories: broadly Christian, iconic Celtic, spiritual, humorous, icons of Ireland, icons of St Patrick.

As it happens, two of them were designed by the same person, John Paul Murray (23), a final-year visual communication student at DIT. The third card was designed by Áine Kierans (20), a third-year student on the same course, also from DIT.

Neither Murray nor Kierans have ever been out of Ireland for March 17th. What did they think of first when they thought of visually defining our national feast day?

"When I think of St Patrick's Day, I think of parades, colours and crowds on the streets," Kierans says.

"I think of when I was young," Murray offers. "Going to the parade. My granny wearing a green jacket."

Both of them are surprised when they realise they think about St Patrick's Day in a retrospective way; as if it's something in the past, rather than an annual event.

"For people who are 20, it is such a hard generation to grasp St Patrick's Day," Kierans says.

"We're not little kids any more who like going to the parade and we're not in our 30s, taking kids to the parade. What myself and my friends do is sit in pubs and have sessions."

"Maybe St Patrick's Day needs a reinvention," Murray reflects.

Kierans shows me a list of subjects she wrote down when brainstorming for her card design, and what she thought of when she thought of St Patrick's Day.

"Forty shades of green. Leprechauns. Shamrocks. Guinness. Pubs. Parades. Orange, white, green. Harp. Snakes. St Patrick. Irish language. Diddlieye music. Sesúins. Fiddles, bodhráns, Irish dancing. Feis Ceol. Irish blessing. Aran jumper."

The idea she followed up was Forty Shades of Green, which was her first idea. Kierans's card is a photomontage of many different fragments of images of green objects.

Among them are: broccoli, apples, a mug of tea, wool, a piece of her primary-school uniform, a green door numbered 17 from Mountjoy Square, green graffiti, grass, and her six-year-old cousin Rebecca Byrne's green-painted face.

"I think kids' faces being painted green is a new thing for St Patrick's Day," Kierans explains.

"When I was a kid, I always had shamrock pinned to my jumper, or one of those badges or green ribbons. Now kids get their faces painted."

Given that Ireland is now increasingly multi-cultural, did she ever consider using an image of a non-white face painted green?

"That would definitely send out a very strong message. A good message. But no, I didn't think of it."

Murray's list of ideas for combining images of modern Ireland and St Patrick's Day were: "the Spire, the Dart, airport, Daniel O'Connell, TCD, the Luas, Giant's Causeway, the tunnel, Boolavogue, Croke Park, U2, the Abbey Theatre, the Shannon, Ireland's shape, Clery's clock, the GPO, O'Connell Street, the Four Courts, Government Buildings, Stephen's Green, the Liffey."

The two images of his that are being used are both cartoons. One is of St Patrick on O'Connell Street, with the Spire as crozier.

The other is of St Patrick with arms akimbo and the line "Feared by snakes the world over." An image which never made it further than Murray's sketchbook was of a hand holding shamrock and a blessing, which read "The Father, the Son and Roy Keane. No, that's not right . . ."

Neither Murray nor Kierans considered developing ideas that included drink. "Guinness for me was too obvious," Kierans says.

"We drink a lot and it's not necessarily a good part of our culture. There's already a big connection abroad between Ireland and drink and I wanted to focus on positives, not negatives."

"I think drink gets too much advertising anyway, so I didn't want to give it any more," Murray says firmly.

In the GPO, people have equally firm views on the merits and otherwise of the An Post cards. Marguerite Buckley says, "I've been in a lot of post offices, and the people there weren't impressed with John Rocha's card at all.

"It looks very corporate. And that Knuttel card, I don't get it at all. Is it supposed to be budget day with that bag and are they two very dodgy politicians What does it have to do with St Patrick's Day?"

Triona O'Mahony picks out Kierans's card as "being more in line with modern Ireland". She would not send the stained-glass image card to anyone. "I wouldn't be gone on that at all."

She likes the Rocha card. "It's very simple and Irish. Butthere's no need for his name on the front, it looks more like a branded card than a St Patrick's Day card."

Gretta Murphy likes Kierans's card. "It's the most modern one." She is baffled by the Knuttel card. "I don't think sending that to the States would say anything about Ireland or St Patrick's Day."

Marcus Shaw is an Australian living in Dublin. He sends St Patrick's Day cards, as a friend of his has a birthday on March 17th. His favourite card is Knuttel's. "They're at the races. It's a card that says more about a day of celebration than a day of religion. Isn't that what St Patrick's Day is about now?"

Plan your parade/Routes and viewing positions:  Mischief, Mayhem and Madness are the themes of tomorrow's Dublin parade. This year, the direction of the route has been reversed, and the parade now marches from north to south. It starts at noon from Dorset Street, and goes down Granby Row, Parnell Square North and East, O'Connell Street, Westmoreland Street, Dame Street, Lord Edward Street, Christ Church, Nicholas Street, and ends at Patrick Street. We're promised those old faithfuls, 12 marching bands, as well as Macnas, Spraoi, and Bui Bolg, among others. It's estimated the parade will take an hour and 20 minutes to pass. Disabled viewing is available on Patrick Street, adjacent to Grandstand No 1; on Westmoreland Street, adjacent to Grandstand No 13; and on O'Connell Street opposite the GPO.

The Skyfest fireworks display is on Saturday, at 8pm. People should start arriving an hour earlier, as a crowd of 100,000 is expected. The show is 20 minutes long, featuring music from Horslips. Expect to wait about 45 minutes to disperse from the area afterwards. Viewing is on both sides of the quays from Butt Bridge to North Wall Quay. Custom House to Guild Street is the best viewing area on the north side, and City Quay to BJ Marine on the south side. Those availing of the disabled viewing points opposite Citibank on the north side and outside BJ Marine on the south side should allow plenty time to arrive and leave.

www.stpatricksfestival.ie