Australia: Dozens of Irish people will be going straight from Amhrán na bhFiann to Advance Australia Fair when they take up Australian citizenship in a ceremony after Sydney's St Patrick's Day parade.
Many more Irish people than in the past are choosing to take up Australian citizenship since swearing allegiance to the queen of England was dropped as a requirement under former prime minister Paul Keating in 1992. New citizens now swear allegiance to Australia instead.
The parade is being held two days late in most Australian cities, as St Patrick's Day is not a public holiday here. That did not, however, prevent Sydney's many Irish bars from being full of green-clad revellers from early afternoon yesterday.
Brisbane's parade was held last weekend but the Melbourne parade has been cancelled this year. A statement from the Melbourne Irish Festival Committee said: "Security and traffic restrictions imposed by the Commonwealth Games would make it very difficult to stage a parade."
However, committee president Veronica O'Sullivan says the festival will be back next year.
The Garda Male Voice Choir will be the main attraction at this year's parade in Sydney.
Pádraig Collins
Buenos Aires: Over 20,000 revellers braved heavy rain to join in the 10th annual St Patrick's Day street party in a specially closed-off section of downtown Buenos Aires yesterday.
Party-goers, dressed in Irish-themed costumes and hats, celebrated Ireland's national feast day into the early hours of Saturday morning in a region of the city that is home to a number of Irish bars.
Stricter security measures were evident this year. Police barricades, an increased police presence and random drug and alcohol tests were introduced for the festivities by the Argentine capital's police force.
With over 500,000, Argentina is home to the largest Irish Diaspora in a non-English-speaking country. Worldwide, it has the sixth-largest Irish population, superseded only by the US, Australia, Great Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
Two of the Irish Diaspora's most famous members are the rebel fighter Che Guevara Lynch and Admiral William Brown known as "The Father of the Argentine Navy", who was born in Foxford, Co Mayo.
As the Governement's official representative, Minister Michael Kitt spoke of the "distinctive and prominent role played by the Irish in Argentine society" at an official reception hosted by the Irish Embassy in Buenos Aires on Thursday night.
Muireann Prendergast