Mullingar st patricks day parade back on after committee reboot

Mullingar will have a St Patrick’s Day Parade this year, as initial concerns about a lack of volunteers appear to have eased.

A re-boot of the parade committee AGM took place in The Greville Arms Hotel last Wednesday night, and former Mullingar mayor Ruth Illingworth – who was returned as the committee chairperson – said that the attendance was the largest in a number of years.

There had been a fear that the town would return to the early 2000s situation, when due to a lack of interest, there was no parade in Mullingar, but the turnout last Wednesday night included a number of new faces, and amid the heightened enthusiasm, the parade was pencilled in for St Patrick’s Day, Tuesday March 17, with a likely 4pm start.

Mullingar Chamber of Commerce extended its support for the parade committee – which includes Ruth (chairperson), Cllr Avril Whitney (secretary) and Jason Scarff (treasurer) – while a number of members of Mullingar Agricultural Society were also present at the meeting. The theme of the parade, which has not yet been finalised, will centre on the word ‘creativity’. It will proceed from west to east, starting beyond the old Horizon ballroom site (now Lidl) and finishing at the Millmount Road area of town.

With so much to be decided and funds yet to be raised, the committee hopes that as many volunteers as possible will attend the weekly meetings in the run-up to the parade, starting on Wednesday night next (January 28) at the Greville Arms Hotel (7pm).

Letters will be sent out to businesses over the coming weeks, with the parade committee accepting correspondence, as always, via the Greville Arms Hotel. It is understood that there will be a substantial reduction in the price levied on commercial floats entered in the 2015 parade.

For more details, keep an eye out for the official Mullingar St Patrick’s Day Parade Facebook page (in preparation), or contact Ruth Illingworth on 087 947 2583 or ruthillingworthmullingar@gmail.com.

All ideas and suggestions, be they for the parade itself, fundraising, stewarding or other matters, would be greatly appreciated.