Vera Pauw

Vera joined players Diane Caldwell and Paula Gorham and Dallas star Patrick Duffy as the Grand Marshals for St Patrick's Day.

Paul Kelly, Chief Executive of Fáilte Ireland said: “This year’s festival is set to be the largest ever St. "I feel very lucky to be a part of the St. bringing fun, entertainment and a healthy dollop of the unexpected as giant monsters take over Clerys on O’Connell Street and Central Plaza on Dame Street. 15 marching bands from across Ireland, North America and Canada joined in the magical procession. Patrick’s Day Parade and has been in the Parade every year since then. It’s such an important tradition for our city and I’m looking forward to seeing the smiling, happy faces as we pass by. This year’s national parade is bigger than ever and the amount of work, dedication and effort that goes into creating this spectacular showcase of Irish talent will be clearly evident. To me to be the Grand Marshal today as a foreigner, it is such a huge, huge honour. We do everything absolutely the same because that is what brought us success, that is what our secret of qualifying is, so if we changed that now, why would we because every game we are performing better and better and we keep following the same line. Use of the coach declined after Irish independence in the 1920s and it was put into storage in 1932, but lovingly restored in 1975 before making its first reappearance in the 1976 St. “It’s an amazing experience, a humbling one and a real honour as well. The trio were also joined by Dallas star and international guest of honour Patrick Duffy, who celebrated his 74th birthday on St Patrick’s Day.