St Patrick's day parade Blanch.

January wrote: »

Does anyone know what the story is with buses? I assume the 38 will be using the n3 after corduff?

Going to try bring the kids down. So wondering what the best vantage point would be.. They're all under 6.

http://www.dublinbus.ie/en/News-Centre/General-News/Celbridge-St-Patricks-Festival-Diversions2/

I heard that the viewing stand will be outside Draiocht. They might go straight after the Garda Station though going left up Snugborough Road Extension to the roundabout at Next would cause less traffic disruption within the Centre.

There's the route.

nitpick man wrote: »

so where is the parade starting.?

Near The Bell pub. See the route map.

Erm, unless I missed something it wasn't a parade really. We heard some sirens and music, looked out the office window and there was a few vehicles lined up turning left onto the Snugborough Road at the crossroad where the garage is.

*EDIT* Ok never mind, it's going past now.

Poor enough really, lots of scouts, kids clubs etc. Long gaps between some of the participants

We enjoyed it.. Good turn out, good community sprit who got involved. Hope they have another one next year.

Took my youngest up to it and we had a great time. The only parades I have ever seen are the Lord Mayor's Show in London on several occasions and the Dublin St Patrick's parade a few times, so wasn't expecting anything like that but actually really enjoyed it together. We recognised quite a few people amongst the different represented groups which made it feel more "local". Best bits for us were the Indian Family Association and the Igbo Association, though the vikings did a good job too. Well done everyone involved and (dare I say) especially Fingal Co Co for making it happen. I too hope it becomes a regular thing.

I went to both the main Dublin parade and the blanch one and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with how good the Blanchardstown one was. At least it was enjoyable for young kids where as the city centre parade was mostly for tourists and kids needed to be there hours in advance to get a good view as no provision is made for kids.

The Blanch parade could have been better organised but it was a good start. Even where I was not far from the start the groups were quite spread out.

Things that need improving are that even where I was not far from the start the groups were quite spread out. There was no organised stopping so groups like the Irish Dancers and martial Arts could perform and there seemed to be too many stragglers like parents just walking along behind some groups. It would have been good if the scout type groups had been dispersed a bit more through the floats.
On a positive note the sound and colour provided by the immigrant groups, in particular the Nigerian and Indian group was fantastic. The civil defence stuff was good as were the Viking group.
Everyone at the blanch parade seemed to enjoy it whereas at the city centre parade there were loads of disappointed people and people leaving early as they couldn’t see due to the tall adults with novelty hats at the front. Hopefully this local parade will grow as the crowds at the main parade are now so big most families I know dread having to go near it.

I thought the parade was great. My son marched in it and he had a lot of fun. I saw quite a few people I know in the parade which was lovely. It exceeded our expectations.
I hope becomes an annual thing.

Who were the Vikings, some historic reenactment society? They were very authentic looking.