New York: Up to two million people crammed Fifth Avenue yesterday to watch 150,000 marchers in this year's St Patrick's Day parade.
The parade was led by New York's 69th Infantry Regiment, which recently returned from the war in Iraq.
At the end of the parade, senior military officers bestowed medals on soldiers who fought in Iraq, to cheers from a large crowd as the Wolfe Tones played republican ballads to honour the regiment, which is strongly associated with Irish America.
Senator Hillary Clinton also marched in the parade with a Democratic Party group, despite the enormous controversy caused by comments made by the parade chairman, John Dunleavy, to The Irish Times, in which he accused Ms Clinton of exploiting the parade for publicity.
Thousands of members of police, fire and high-school bands walked the parade route, which enjoyed some sunshine despite the cold weather.
Timothy Rooney, whose family own this year's Superbowl winners, the Pittsburgh Steelers, was this year's parade grand marshal. Councillors from Louth, Waterford, Clare and other counties also marched.
At a pre-parade breakfast in Connolly's pub in mid-Manhattan, the leader of New York City Council, Christine Quinn, welcomed the mayor of Clare, councillor Pat Keane, to New York.
The Clare group in the parade carried a large banner celebrating Brian Boru as well as the county's nickname, the banner county.
The breakfast was bittersweet for Ms Quinn, the first openly gay leader of New York City Council, who boycotted the parade in protest at the exclusion of gay groups. Ms Quinn said she had no choice after her attempts to lift the long-running ban were refused by Mr Dunleavy.
A reception at city hall the previous night at honoured Irish actor Milo O'Shea.
Much of the New York media concentrated on comments made by Mr Dunleavy in which he said that Ms Clinton was trying to exploit the parade and that gay groups should not be allowed to march in the parade, any more than neo-Nazis should be allowed to march in Israeli parades.
Mr Dunleavy declined to comment to reporters yesterday and threatened to have a reporter removed from a St Patrick's Day event unless he left voluntarily.