Start times confirmed for Ballymahon and Ballinasloe St Patrick's Day parades
Preparations are continuing ahead of the Ballymahon St Patrick's Day parade tomorrow (Tuesday) at 4pm.
'Our Story' is the theme for this year's parade, with chairperson Pat O'Toole encouraging local community groups and sporting organisations to bring a flavour of their history to the occasion.
"The theme for this year's parade is 'Our Story' which can be about one's family, the parish, local schools, sporting clubs, community groups, business or the farming community.
"It is a wide-ranging theme so I'm hopeful that there will be a great variety with all the participating floats," Pat said.
The chairperson added that he and his fellow members of the voluntary committee were hopeful of having between 30 and 40 floats in this year's parade. He encouraged participants to gather on Creevaghbeg Road at 3.30pm ahead of the 4pm start.
"The parade will be headed by members of the Organisation of National Ex-Service Personnel (ONE) and the Athlone Pipe Band with floats from the sporting, community and voluntary sector parading through the main street of the town.
"This year we also have floats representing the local schools in Ballymahon and Tang NS," Mr O'Toole added.
A prize of €500 and perpetual trophy will be awarded to the 'Best Overall' float, with additional awards for the 'Best Dressed' business window, 'Most Humorous' entry and the 'Best Presented Vehicle' in the parade.
Meanwhile, the Ballinasloe St Patrick's Day parade takes place at 2pm on Tuesday.
Participating floats are being encouraged to assemble at the Fair Green at 1.30pm, the parade starting at 2pm.
The best overall float will receive the Tony Colohon Memorial Trophy, while there will also be€2,000 awarded in prizes across a number of categories.
The Portiuncula Maternity Alliance (PMA) is inviting people from across the region to walk with them during the Ballinasloe event in support of safe maternity care at Portiuncula University Hospital
With the announcement last year that high-risk pregnancies would be transferred from Portiuncula, the PMA said some expectant mothers who would previously have received their care locally may now have to travel significantly longer distances to other hospitals to access maternity care.
The alliance is entering a float in the parade. Members of the public from across the region are being invited to walk behind the Portiuncula Maternity Alliance float as a visible show of support for safe, properly resourced maternity services close to home.