Parades to take place this weekend celebrating frontline, emergency and security workers

Frontline, emergency and security workers were honoured at an event in Dublin Castle on Thursday for the work they have done for the public over the past year.

Some 50 frontline workers gathered in the courtyard as the Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conway gave a speech celebrating the work of “often unseen heroes” ahead of National Services Day 2022 which will take place this weekend.

Those gathered at Dublin Castle had, since the last event in 2019, “continued to protect, rescue, heal and support our nation against all the challenges of our time”, she said.

“We owe much of where we are as a nation to the fortitude and resilience demonstrated by so many involved in National Services Day”.

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“The toll our frontline services personnel pay is a heavy one and it is with pride that the people of Dublin City acknowledge their service and that of their families who all too often provide the necessary support to these remarkable men and women to keep on keeping on.”

Service personnel

National Services Day began in 2013 and was established as a national day in 2018. Every year it is marked on the first Saturday in September. This year, a parade consisting of service personnel, vehicles and marching bands will parade throughout the country.

Parades will take place in Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny, Limerick, Wexford, Castlebar and Castleblayney this year.

Commemoration services will be held in several venues countrywide and a gala fundraising dinner will take place at the Mansion House.

Dublin’s 2019 event included four marching bands and over 1,200 participants.

A full itinerary of upcoming events in 2022 can be found on nationalservicesday.ie