Cavan on parade

The sun was shining. The sky was blue and the streets of Cavan were a sea of green, white and orange. Thousands lined the streets of the county town for yesterday"s St. Patrick"s Day parade and nobody could believe their luck that the rain stayed away. There was a real festival atmosphere in the town, as families and friend came together to celebrate the national day, forget about the doom and gloom and celebrate not just being Irish but being from Cavan and all the clubs, organisations and events that our county town has to offer. Meanwhile, the Guinness flowed in pubs throughout the town, Irish stew and colcannon were on the menu and the craic was ninety. The parade got underway through the town shortly after 12.30pm, led by a colour party from Dun Uí Neill Barracks. The big hit with parade watchers on the street was undoubtedly the Culchie Festival Float from Ballyjamesduff. They got a great laugh from the crowd as the culchies came to help St. Patrick get rid of the snakes in Ireland - the snakes being the country"s bankers. Meanwhile, a big favourite with the children was the Dernakesh Pet Farm floats with plenty of live animals on display - not to mention Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and all her friends and lots and lots of bubbles. The clowns and the numerous floats throwing lollipops to the children on the street were also popular with the children. The Cavan Chamber used the opportunity to preach to the thousands of Cavan people lining the streets - shop local! Their float 'The Economic Tug O" War' asked shoppers to - stop fooling yourself, your town needs you! - as Breffni superheroes took on the ASDAs of the world in the tug o" war that is cross-border shopping. And what parade would be complete without vintage machinery and tractors, not to mention flags, hats, badges, wigs, painted faces, balloons and plenty of cheer. The Winners On Wheels (WOW) group were joined by scores of Harley Davidson bikers - giving a real roar to this year"s parade. There were seven bands in all at various stages throughout the parade - they were the Lisnaskea Accordion Band, the Bunnoe Brass & Reed Band, St. Clare"s School Band, the Clontibret Pipe Band, the Lisnaskea Silver Band, the Maguiresbridge Accordion Band and the Dungannon Pipe Band. Above all the parade was a real celebration of the various clubs, organisations and events throughout the town and county. Among those participating were the Fire Services, Civil Defence, the Cavan Association in London, Cavan Gaels, Killygarry, the Catholic Guides of Ireland, Cavan Lions Club, Cavan Town Council, schools and pre-schools, a host of local businesses, the Tullacmongan Resource Centre, the Cavan Garda Youth Diversion Project, the Cavan Multi-Cultural Network; the AOH, Virginia Heritage Group, Cavan Gymnastics Club, 2nd Cavan Scouts, Cavan Rugby Club, Ballinagh District Vintage Club, Cavan Comets Baseball Club, Breifne Swim Club, Niall Mellon Township Trust, Good Morning Positive Age and the Cavan SPCA. The general consensus and murmurings on the street as people made their way to get something to eat and enjoy the rest of their day after the parade ended was that this was the best St. Patrick"s Day Parade for many years.