PICTURES: Tullamore St Patrick's Day Parade award winners pick up prizes

AN estimated 12,000 people lined the streets of Tullamore for this year's St Patrick's Day Parade and they saw another 2,500 taking part in the numerous entries.

Use the Next > above to go through the gallery of pictures taken at the presentation night by Michael McGrath

Speaking at the presentation of the awards for this year's parade, one of the organisers, Cllr Sean O'Brien, said the event was a marvellous spectacle which attracted spectators from far and near.

“The fantastic colour, and dancing and music and entertainment... The people of Tullamore, and wider, really enjoyed it.”

He was addressing those gathered in the Old Harbour Bar on Friday night where another large crowd turned up for the formal handover of trophies to parade participants.

“We've a full house and that's great to see. There was great enthusiasm on the day and there is great enthusiasm on the night.”

Cllr O'Brien is one of a parade committee which has two presidents, John O'Toole and John O'Connor, along with chair Frankie O'Reilly and members Martin O'Connor, Jenny O'Connor, Shane Murray, Enda Mollen, Yvonne Kerry, Catherine Galvin, Mick Plunkett, John Plunkett, Kevin Boyce and Ciara Kinnarney.

A number of other volunteers assisted on the day, including some lined up by the Offaly Volunteer Centre.

While St Mary's Youth & Community Centre won the top prize for best overall entry, the biggest winner on the evening was the Tullamore Indian Association which scooped two awards.

The association also won a prize last year when it made its Tullamore parade debut and the entertainment and colour its members provided caught the eye of the judges once again.

Indian Association member, Abin Joseph, who is from Kerala, a region in the south of the country, spoke of how proud the entire community was.

“It's an honour to win an award for the Tullamore Indian Association and we won two awards. We feel so welcome in a different place,” he said.

“You know all the differences people have but the way Irish people welcome us is absolutely marvellous. We absolutely love it. When we got the invitation to take part in this Patrick's Day Parade we were so happy and we wanted to show our gratitude by bringing out the best from our community. We didn't expect to get an award.”

He has been in Ireland since 2022 and works as a data analyst with Offaly County Council. “It's a great place to live actually,” he said. “It's nice to be here and part of this culture.”

He said India is a very diverse country and a motto they use there is “Unity in diversity”.

“It's what we can see in Ireland as well, they are all diverse people but they can all come together.”

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The Offaly Ukrainian Group also won an award and a woman who marched in the parade holding an eye catching home baked cake, Nadia Vlakova, said she was delighted to take part “because I love such activities.”

An employee of Sofina Foods, the owner of Carroll Cuisine, she has been in Tullamore for two years and though she is happy to be in Offaly she is sad that the war has continued for so long.

Speaking through a language translation app on her phone, she remarked of her home country: “There will be some ruins.”

This year's parade also had a best dressed dog competition and the winners were a pair of Rottweilers, Bruno and Tyson, owned by local man Mick Keegan.

He said he donned them in Ireland rugby jerseys for the day “because they're Irish.” The pets are named after two famous boxers from the 1980s and 1990s, Frank Bruno and Mike Tyson.

Mick said he was surprised to win the award and joked: “I thought the dog with three legs should have won.”

LIST OF WINNERS

Best New Entry: Offaly Ukrainian Group

Best Community Entry: Tullamore Town FC

Best School Entry: Gaelscoil an Eiscir Riada

Best Band: Mullingar Town Band

Best Sport Entry: Killeigh Schoolboys & Girls FC

Best Youth Entry: Tullamore Basketball Club

Most Entertaining Entry: Tullamore Indian Association

Best Business Entry: KC Motorcycles

People's Choice Award: Tullamore Indian Association

Best Window Display: Offaly Hospice (winner), Aidan Walsh Opticians (runner-up)

Best Dressed Dog: Mick Keegan with Bruno and Tyson

Best Overall Entry: St Mary's Youth & Community Centre