St.Patrick's Day - Martin McGuinness & Mayor Ken Livingstone United in London
St. Patrick's Day Parade attracts record numbers and now rivals that of New York!
London, UK (PRWEB) March 14, 2006 -- Pictures by Functionpix - David Sell
Londoners have shown up in record numbers for the fifth annual St Patrick's Day parade. A fantastic show of all things Irish from Irish dancers, floats and bands paraded through central London, the Hothouse Flowers performed Live in Trafalgar Square.
The fabulous celebrations were repeated across the capital and each location joined in with thousands of onlookers – The water in Trafalgar square's fountains was dyed green for the day, Irish food was sampled in Covent Garden and a Ceilidh was performed in Leicester Square.
Organisers say celebrations now rival those in New York, Boston and Chicago. a third of all Irish people in Britain live in London.
The parade left Park Lane and passed through Piccadilly Circus, Lower Regent Street, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall.
We have got such a great city because people get on so well and we want to enjoy all the parties that we can have
Mayor Ken Livingstone
Among more than 4,000 performers were singer-songwriter Gemma Hayes and Brian Kennedy who is to represent Ireland at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
Both Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern praised the event, which recognises London's large Irish community - London mayor Ken Livingstone told BBC London: "It's a great day out.
Mayor Ken Livingstone and Irish Republican and one time IRA Commander Martin McGuinness stood shoulder to shoulder at the start of the parade and Ken later discribed the event as 'One of London's most celebrated days and one to really let your hair down at!'
"It's not just St Patrick's Day, we celebrated Russian New Year in January, Chinese New Year and this year, for the first time, we will celebrate the Muslim festival of Eid in Trafalgar Square.
"We have got such a great city because people get on so well and we want to enjoy all the parties that we can have."
Functionpix photographers were out in force today, Gerald O’Rorke, David Sell and David Toney were all covering the event and their pictures can be viewed/bought at http://www.functionpix.com with all profits being donated to charity.
Functionpix covers all events with original news, images in order to raise money for charity. We are the only UK News/photographic organisation of our kind.
Contact: Pascal Molliere
www.functionpix.com
Tel: +447713 242948
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