Let’s paint village green during the St Patrick’s Day parade and festival
By Aideen O'Flaherty
ONE of the organisers of this year’s St Patrick’s Day Tallaght Parade and Arts Festival, which will be painting Tallaght Village green for the first time in 13 years, said he hopes the festival will “completely reverse the effects” of the Lidl store that was demolished and looted in Fortunestown last week, and “all the negativity” that came with it.
Roderick Smyth, who was also involved in the Tallaght St Patrick’s Day Parade during the early 2000s, said he hopes to create a carnival atmosphere at this year’s festival, which will include a parade that will begin at St Maelruain’s Church, opposite IT Tallaght, at 1.30pm on March 17.
Excitement for this year's St Patrick's Day parade in Tallaght is already building
The hour-long parade will then go up Main Road to the Greenhills Road before turning left into IT Tallaght, where the festival element of the event, which will include a kids’ zone with an inflatable obstacle course, will be held.
Roderick told The Echo: “We’re trying to create a bit of a carnival atmosphere, and we’re trying to completely reverse the effects of the Lidl thing and all of the negativity that came with it.
“All of the good work in the area was ignored [when that happened], and the festival is going to be an opportunity to highlight the good in the area.”
The festival will also be fully accessible for everyone in the community, including those in wheelchairs and with mobility issues, with a mobile toilet specifically for people with disabilities being located on site.
Car parking
Car parking for people with limited mobility and in wheelchairs will be provided in the Greenhills Road area of IT Tallaght, and there will also be viewing sections along the parade route specifically for wheelchair users and people with mobility issues.
The festival section of the event will run until 5pm, and Roderick is also looking for any aspiring musicians or music groups who may want to play a 30 minute slot during the event, and added that any community groups who got involved in clearing up snow were also welcome to walk in the parade.
To keep up to date with everything that’s happening with the parade, and to get in touch with Roderick about either performing at or walking in the parade, go to the St Patrick’s Day Tallaght Parade & Arts Festival page on Facebook.
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