St Patrick’s Day Parade Public Meeting Clonmel
A wide range of local Groups and Organisations attended an open public Meeting hosted by the Clonmel Borough District Mayor, Cllr Martin Lonergan on Monday night in the Town Hall, Clonmel. The focus of this gathering was to assist the Council in it’s efforts to plan and prepare for the forthcoming St Patrick’s Day Parade.
Local County Councillors and TD’s were among the attendance of key stakeholder groups representing the wider Voluntary, Community, Civic and Business sectors in the Town. Mayor Lonergan welcomed those in attendance to engage in preparing and planning for the 2015 Parade.
The Meeting was briefed on progress to date and The Mayor again repeated the commitment of fullest support of Tipperary County Council and the Clonmel Borough District.
The Meeting was told that initial contact and support had also been pledged from local groups in relation to Health and Safety & Route Management matters, proposals for Performances & Entertainment on the day and Advertising & Publicity of the Parade.
Existing local bands, street theatre, clubs and societies had confirmed their participation at this year’s event and the Mayor encouraged all other local groups who may not have previously entered a Float or organised a Performance to consider participating in this years event.
The meeting also discussed the logistics of the Review Stand and the nomination of a Grand Marshall to lead the Parade. Mayor Lonergan informed the meeting that Carrie Acheson had accepted an invitation to be this year’s Grand Marshall. This nomination was to acknowledge her vast contribution and dedicated service to Clonmel over the years and was especially poignant in the year that Clonmel Show would be celebrating its 150th Anniversary. The meeting was also informed that invitations had been issued to the Mayors of those Towns in Europe that were twinned with Clonmel.
Thanks and acknowledgements were expressed to Cuman Naomh Tobar Padraig for their role in organising previous years Parades and there would continue to be a strong working relationship between the Council and the Cuman over the course of the additional events scheduled for the Patrick’s Day celebrations.
Groups that attended on the night included An Garda Siochana, Civil Defence, Irish Red Cross, Clonmel Chamber of Commerce, Association of Clonmel Traders, Clonmel Bianconi Twining Committee, Junction Festival, Festival Cluain Meala, Clonmel Cycling Club, See-Change Clonmel, Clonmel Toastmasters and Clonmel Rugby Club while a number of other groups had passed on their apologies for not able to make the meeting but again offered to assist and participate in the organisation of the day.
It was confirmed that Clonmel Chamber of Commerce will host the registration of Floats and Marching Groups Clubs and the online Registration Form is available on the front page of www.clonmelchamber.com .
The Meeting concluded on a note of enthusiasm and a Steering-Group to co-ordinate this year’s event was agreed. The Steering-Group will meet weekly to receive updates on progress and advise and support the overall process.
Additional Information on the 2015 Parade Event can be obtained from Clonmel Borough District Office – 076 106 5000 or mark.ryan@tipperarycoco.ie.
