Women’s football team named as Dublin St Patrick parade’s grand marshall

The Girls in Green will be swamped by giant waves of the national colour on the streets of Dublin later this month after being selected as Grand Marshalls for the St Patrick’s Day parade in the capital.

The Republic of Ireland women’s football team – which heads down under to play in their first World Cup tournament later this year – has been given the challenge of leading the parade with team manager Vera Pauw, experienced defender Diane Caldwell and former international Paula Gorham doing the honours on the big day.

The squad was chosen on the basis that it reflects the “very best of Ireland’s strength, perseverance and sporting achievement and acts as an inspiration for fans young and old across Ireland”.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy, who will also be taking part in the parade from the gilded carriage of her office welcomed the announcement saying the team had “been an inspiration to us all and we’ll be following their progress closely at the World Cup later this year.”

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For her part Pauw, said she was looking forward to the year ahead both for women’s football in Ireland “but also for the country as a whole because we celebrate our success together”.

She described the team’s achievement in reaching the World Cup finals in Australia and New Zealand as “incredible” and said it was a “huge honour for the team to be named as Grand Marshal.”

The chief executive of the festival Richard Tierney said the festival was “honoured” to have the team as Grand Marshal and said its “hard work and dedication to their game is reflective of the efforts of people up and down the country and beyond as they put the final touches to their performances and get ready to showcase their talents for us all to enjoy.”

Fáilte Ireland’s Head of Festivals Ciara Sugrue said the St Patrick’s Day Festival was “a great opportunity to celebrate the best of Ireland so it is fitting to have the Republic of Ireland Women’s National Football Team Football lead out this year’s parade in Dublin.”

She said the festival would generate an economic impact for Dublin of about €50 million.

“With the world-class pageantry of the parade and packed programme of wider festival events, the festival not only gives visitors the opportunity to experience the very best of our capital city but also showcases Ireland as a fantastic tourist destination to people around the world,” she added.

In September 2022, Ireland secured a spot in the 2023 World Cup Qualifying Play-Offs for the first time, beating Finland 1-0 with a goal from Lily Agg in front of a record crowd of 6,592. This achievement was soon surpassed when Ireland won the play-off final 1–0 over Scotland in Glasgow the following month with a stunning goal from Amber Barrett securing qualification for the final tournament.

Pauw has been there through it all, not only leading the team to their first ever World Cup, but also helping them to achieve their highest ever position in the world rankings, secure their biggest ever win, equal their best ever away result, set a new home attendance record and also introduced an equal pay structure for the players.

Diane Caldwell, has won 93 caps since making her debut in 2006. The Dublin native has played professionally in Iceland, Norway, Germany, United States and now in England with Reading.

Paula Gorham is a legendary figure in women’s football in Ireland after scoring a hat-trick on her Ireland Women’s Team debut – as a 16-year-old – in the country’s first ever women’s international when they beat Wales 3-2 in May 1973. As the 50th year anniversary of the team rolls closer, she remains a positive ambassador for the game.

This year’s parade returns to the streets of Dublin city from noon on Friday March 17th, winding its way from Parnell Square to Kevin St Junction. Driven by the values of community, diversity, youth and sustainability, it will be the most ambitious ever, featuring breathtaking new artistic, interactive and aerial elements.

A major new opening pageant has been commissioned featuring a collaboration with St Patrick’s Festival Community Arts pageant with Macnas, Junk Kouture, Discovery Gospel Choir, and a whole host of community groups.