Newbridge Parade goes from strength to strength
Leah Moran Stage School were one of many highlights in the parade Photos: Jimmy Fullam
THE biggest St Patrick’s Day Parade outside of Dublin saw a crowd almost equating to the population of the town enjoy the day in Newbridge on Tuesday (17 March).
“There was at least 15,000 people according to garda estimates,” said Treasurer and PRO of the event Morgan McCabe.
”It gets bigger and bigger every year, and this year it took a full two hours for every float to pass the viewing platform.
“We even had a delegation from the Chinese Embassy, thanks to the Co Kildare Chinese Cultural Group which made the invite last year.
“This year we had the Minister Councillor for The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China Yang Tong, and the First Secretary of the Mission Huang Jai in attendance.
“The Grand Marshall was Peter O’Neill who’s been around for donkey’s years! He is definitely one of our respected elders in the town.
“We had over 70 floats this year, from Malaysia, two from India, and a surprise group of Tae Kwon Do Olympic medallists from Japan, there was lots of cultural diversity.
“Even the Lidl Warehouse entered with a little train, and we had all the usuals like the Harley Davidson Group.
“The Whitewater Shopping Centre was celebrating its 20th anniversary, and Murphy International the largest earth-moving company in the world and sponsors of Newbridge Rugby Club were celebrating 75 years.
“They were one of the main parade sponsors, alongside Kildare County Council,” he said.
Morgan also highlighted the teamwork from fellow committee members Carl Murphy (chair), and Emily McTigue (Secretary).
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