Ronnie Drew of The Dubliners is to be the grand marshal of this year's St Patrick's Festival parade in Dublin.
The festival has chosen him to lead the parade in recognition and appreciation of his unique contribution to Dublin and Irish culture.
He said yesterday it was "an honour to do it. I was delighted to be asked and happily accepted."
He said he had been out of Ireland on St Patrick's Day so often that it was nice to be at home with the family. "I'll have my children and grandchildren up there with me in the car and I'm just going to enjoy the whole feeling of the festival."
Drew, now 71, formed The Dubliners in 1962 and recently duetted with Shane McGowan at the Meteor Awards.
A festival spokeswoman said close to 700,000 people are expected to attend this year's parade, with the worldwide television audience likely to be greater than seven million. The parade will have more than 3,000 participants.
The St Patrick's Festival runs from March 15th to 19th, and will include street theatre, music, dance, comedy and film.