Build-up to Dublin parade begins with band contest in D'Olier Street

The build-up to Dublin's parade will begin at 9 a.m. with an international marching band competition in D'Olier Street. After attending Mass at the Pro-cathedral, the President, Mrs McAleese, and her family will travel to the parade review stand in Church Street in the official Rolls Royce car, which is only used on ceremonial occasions.

The parade proper will start at 11.30 a.m. from St Patrick's Cathedral. The lead pageant in the parade, The Dawn of the New Millennium, will be led by the Millennium Drum, which the organisers say is the biggest drum in the world.

The pageant also includes a 40 foot inflatable sun, created by Keith Payne, who has worked with Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones. An 80-feet long, 40-feet high dragon will share the route with a Cuban dance troupe, and a 20-strong Macnas drum team.

The parade will arrive in Parnell Square shortly after 2 p.m. and will be followed by a "monster ceili" in St Stephen's Green, where the Kilfenora Ceili Band will provide the musico, tris" before.

In general, streets along the parade route will be closed to traffic between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. and traffic will be diverted from the city centre. However, some streets will be closed for a longer period.

Three lanes on Westmoreland Street closed at 10 p.m. yesterday and will remain closed until 10 p.m. tonight. A section of Patrick Street between Bull Alley and Kevin Street Lower will also be closed until late tonight. Parnell Square East will be closed from 7.30 a.m. until 4 p.m., while St Stephen's Green North between Kildare Street and Dawson Street will be closed from 12 noon to 7.30 p.m. for the open air ceili.

Car clampers will not be working today in Dublin, and parking meters will not be in operation.

Elsewhere, the Sam Maguire will head the parade in Galway, which starts at 12.30 p.m. from Newcastle Road and finishes in Eyre Square. Starting at the same time will be Cork's parade, which will wind from St Patrick's Quay to the reviewing stand at the South Mall.

In Belfast participants in a carnival-style parade will converge on Wellington Street from all over the city about 12.30 p.m. In Limerick, Civic Week celebrations continue with a parade starting at 11.30 a.m. which is expected to attract 30,000 people.