St Patricks Day cultural programme ‘I Love My City’ launched

The St Patrick's Day cultural programme, I Love My City, was officially launched by Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Heather Humphreys on Wednesday.

Comprising 18 events across the capital, the programme runs from March 14th to 17th, with tickets available at stpatricksfestival.ie.

All events are ticketed due to high demand, though some are free.

"The whole idea around the programme was to showcase all the incredible talent we have here in Ireland in spaces around the city which you wouldn't normally expect to see them," says Susanna Lagan, creative director of the festival.

Colm Meaney interview

Highlights of the four-day programme include a screening of The Snapper in The Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital, where actor Colm Meaney will be interviewed by RTÉ's John Kelly on Saturday, March 14th.

The Ultimate Sunday in Belvedere House will bring to life the Sunday papers, with news delivered by comedians John Colleary and Gary Cooke from Après Match and arts being discussed by Donal Dineen and musician Lisa O' Neill, author Paul Murray and artist Cian McLaughlin.

Running for the entirety of the festival is the Me Jewel and Darlin’ Dublin exhibition, which will show a series of quotes by Dubliners about Dublin in the oldest public library in Ireland, Marsh’s library, on St Patricks Close.

Mass céilí

For those who might consider hitting the tiles on Monday evening, what else for it but a mass céilí in St Stephen’s Green at 4.30pm.

As for the parade, this year’s theme is Celebrate Now. “Everyone is always either rushing forward or looking back, people don’t really stop to think about the now - here we wanted to celebrate nowness,” says Ms Lagan.

And how will they achieve that? “It’s always the bigger the better for us, so we’ll have probably the biggest rubber duck we’ve ever had - about 7 metres off the ground - as well as a massive spider, but I can’t tell you what that’s about!

“There’ll be a really fun pageant based around the Irish obsession with the weather and also loads of stuff for the kids,” says Ms Lagan.

Treasure hunt

Events for children include a shortened treasure hunt on Saturday, and the big day out is on Sunday where there’ll be a street carnival on Merrion Square.

“That’s packed with the science zone, an urban farm, street theatre and Cirque du Gael, an Irish language event which is just all kinds of madness under one tent,” she adds.

Meanwhile, Ms Humphreys has announced she is increasing funding to allow the National Cultural Institutions and the Irish museum network share their collections.

Last year funding was € 10,000 and this year it will be € 40,000, which Ms Humphreys believes “will benefit our tourism, social inclusion and the overall well-being of our cities, towns and communities”.