Buenos Aires:A record crowd of more than 50,000 people attended Saturday's parade in Buenos Aires, the largest St Patrick's Day celebration in Latin America.
Revellers withstood heavy rain, thunder and lightning for the 11th annual St Patrick's Day Street Party in a central part of the capital close to an area containing a number of Irish bars.
"Security measures were stricter this year, with random drug and alcohol tests, checks on the official registration of security guards and 14 teams of government inspectors patrolling bars to prevent more than the authorised numbers from entering.
Many bars operated on a ticket-only basis," Robert Amitrano, owner of the city's Kilkenny bar, told The Irish Times.
Rigorous security measures were in force for the duration of the celebrations as a result of tough legislation on public security introduced after almost 200 young people died in a fire in a Buenos Aires nightclub in 2004.
The Government's official representative in Argentina for the festivities was the Attorney General, Rory Brady. During his five-day visit Mr Brady met Argentinian government ministers and leading economists.
He greeted more than 400 members of the Irish-Argentine community at a function organised by the Irish embassy and attended a Mass and commemoration ceremony to mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Irish-born Admiral William Brown at Luján outside Buenos Aires.