Thousands of people will gather in cities, towns and villages across Ireland to celebrate St Patrick’s Day later.
In the heart of Dublin city centre, 4,200 performers are preparing to take part in what is said to be the largest-ever national St Patrick’s Day parade.
The parade will feature six large-scale pageants and 11 show pieces.
It will begin at 12pm at Granby Row and will head down O’Connell Street before finishing across the city at the bottom of Kevin Street.
The events include 14 marching bands from Ireland, France and the United States.
The theme of this year’s parade is Spréach, the Irish word for spark, and the Grand Marshal is the host of RTÉ’s Late Late Show Patrick Kielty.
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The Dublin Fire Brigade’s ambulance service, who are celebrating 125 years of service, will also take part in the parade.
Also, the Power of the North East Inner City group will take part with over 180 participants from the local area.
Public transport in Dublin will operate on a Sunday timetable.
Later, the celebrations in Dublin move on to the festival quarter at Collins Barracks, where the grounds of this historic heritage site will be transformed into a day-to-night city centre festival.
It will feature a host of performances and events, including a 3,000-capacity covered main stage where Denise Chaila will take to the stage of the ‘Halla mór’ at 9.30pm.
Live coverage of the parade through Dublin will be televised on RTÉ One from 12.15pm
