A global audience will witness Ireland’s celebration of 100 Years of Olympic participation next month when Team Ireland plays a central role in the National St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin on 17 March 2024. Ireland first competed as a nation in the Olympic Games in Paris 1924, and St. Patrick’s Day will serve as a nostalgic reminder of Ireland’s rich Olympic heritage.
The annual parade on the streets of Dublin will be cheered on by more than half a million spectators in person and watched by a TV audience of many millions around the world. With the support of Team Ireland’s title sponsor PTSB, the Olympic Federation of Ireland will play a central role in the parade as it makes its way through the historic streets of Dublin from Parnell Square on the northside to Kevin Street on the southside.
A special parade ‘showpiece’ celebrating Ireland’s Olympians from 1924 to 2024 will serve as a visual representation of the country’s long history with the Olympics and is set to be a colourful and spectacular addition to this year’s St Patrick’s Festival.
Performers representing athletes and sports from Ireland’s Olympic history will accompany the float, as well as school children who have taken part in the Dare to Believe Olympic School’s programme. In a nod to this year’s Olympic Games in Paris, a French marching band will lead the Team Ireland float.
Patrick Farrell, Retail Banking Director at PTSB, says they’re proud to be able to support Team Ireland as it celebrates 100 years and as it looks forward to this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
“As proud title sponsor of the Irish Olympic Team, PTSB is honoured that our partnership coincides with Team Ireland’s centenary at the Olympic Games this summer in Paris. Celebrating such a significant anniversary on Ireland’s national day in the iconic St. Patrick’s Day Parade feels like a fitting tribute to 100 years of Irish athletes doing their country proud on the world’s biggest stage.”
The theme of this year’s Festival is ‘Spréach’, the Irish word for Spark, which represents the unique essence of Ireland and the Irish People. CEO of the Olympic Federation of Ireland, Peter Sherrard believes this year’s theme has special significance from an Olympic perspective.
“Each and every Irish Olympian has shown a spark of determination, and an ambition to be the best on a World stage. It is these values that we want to communicate to an Irish and global audience as we celebrate their legacy and achievements since the start of the modern Games and since the first Team Ireland of Paris 1924.”
Richard Tierney, CEO at St. Patrick’s Festival, added: “As we unveil the Olympic showpiece to honour Team Ireland’s remarkable journey over the past century of Olympic competition, we celebrate the resilience, passion, and extraordinary achievements of our athletes. This showpiece will embody the spirit of our nation’s sporting excellence and serves as a testament to the enduring legacy of Irish pride on the world’s greatest stage.”
The St Patrick’s Day parade is one of a series of events celebrating 100 years of Ireland’s participation at the Olympic Games and the extraordinary achievements of athletes who have represented their country, highlighting their stories and creating a legacy that inspires the next generation to reach for their Olympic dreams.
Ireland has participated at 22 Summer and eight Winter Olympic Games since 1924. During that period, a total of 38 Olympic medals from the first – a silver medal in painting for Jack B Yeats for ‘The Liffey Swim’, right up to the most recent – the gold medal won by Kellie Harrington in the Women’s Lightweight boxing category in Tokyo 2020.
Team Ireland’s centenary celebrations can be followed here.
-ENDS-
Further Information:
Heather Boyle, OFI Head of Communications
heather@olympicsport.ie +353 87 337 1954
About PTSB
PTSB is the first-ever title sponsor to partner with both the Irish Olympic Team and the Irish Paralympic Team during an Olympic and Paralympic cycle. The Bank is also the first-ever title sponsor of Paralympics Ireland. Living our promise of being Altogether more human, we support the human behind the athlete, just as we support our customers every day. We never underestimate what it takes.
PTSB has a long banking history in Irish communities, with roots that stretch back over 200 years. Throughout this time, its focus has been on delivering exceptional customer service and connecting with local communities, providing mortgages and community banking services. PTSB has a presence in 98 locations nationwide and is a leading provider of Retail and Business Banking services in the Irish Market, serving over 1.3 million customers.
About SPF
The national St. Patrick’s Festival is Ireland’s global celebration of Irish Arts, Culture and Heritage. It takes place annually in Dublin and is made possible by the generous support of Principal Funders: The Government of Ireland, the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Fáilte Ireland, and Dublin City Council, as well as many organisations, civic and commercial partners and funders.
Established in 1996, St. Patrick’s Festival has grown from a single-day to a multi-day event featuring music, performance, spectacle, dance, theatre, literature, visual arts, food, community activations and much more. It is recognized globally as one of the world’s biggest festivals, with a global reach of almost 500 million people in 2023. The Festival is a key driver for the Tourism industry, presenting a world class event that showcases the very best of Irishness and Ireland as a destination, platforming our incredible unique culture, heritage and traditions to a global audience through quality experiences. The most recent economic impact research estimates that St. Patrick’s Festival returns roughly €113 million to the Irish economy, with over 100,000 out-of-state visitors specifically choosing to holiday in Ireland to visit the Festival.
St. Patrick’s Festival also continues to be a key driver of employment and opportunity for the creative sector, providing over 11,000 days of employment in 2023. The 2024 Festival will continue to provide these opportunities, driving employment through direct investment in these vital industries that uplift Ireland across the world. The Festival team is made up of many of Ireland’s most experienced professional artists, arts workers, creatives and live events workers, in support of a small core team who work throughout the year planning the St. Patrick’s Festival and Parade. Year on year, St. Patrick’s Festival employs thousands of Irish artists, arts workers, arts organisations, live event workers, community workers and volunteers. St. Patrick’s Festival is an independent not-for-profit organisation with charity status, governed by a Board of Directors under the patronage of the President of Ireland.
