Biting cold and sharp winds failed to deter hundreds of thousands from turning out for St Patrick's Day parades across the country yesterday.
Some 400,000 people lined the streets of Dublin to watch the largest parade, a cosmopolitan pageant of theatre troupes, giant puppets, marching bands and dancers from as far afield as Togo and Bangladesh.
Though high winds forced the closure of four of the 16 grandstands along the 3km (1.9 mile)route, the festival's chief executive Donal Shiels said he was "thrilled".
The overall award for best act recognised bravery as much as brio; the annual Chairman's Award was bestowed on MaSamba, a Dublin-based group that offered the capital's shivering throng 12 Brazilian lady dancers dressed in high-heels and feathered head-dresses and little else. "We just tried to keep them moving," said the group's director, Simeon Smith.
About 1,000 gardaí were on duty in the Dublin Metropolitan Area, and a Garda spokeswoman said last night that there had been no major incidents. By 10pm yesterday there had been about 45 arrests for minor offences. Off-licences in the city centre generally respected Garda requests not to open before 4pm.
Parades were also held across Ireland. Athlete Derval O'Rourke, gold medallist at the World Indoor Championships in Moscow last week, was greeted by thousands of fans at the celebrations in Cork, while the first parade to be organised by Belfast city council was attended by 5,000 people. In Galway, about 15,000 onlookers defied cold winds for an event themed on the legend of the Cattle Raid of Cooley. There were also celebrations in New York, Paris, Berlin, Vienna and Beijing.