Crowdfunding campaign aims to save Athlone's St Patrick's Day parade

An online 'crowdfunding' campaign got underway last week in a bid to give Athlone's St Patrick's Day parade a much-needed boost.

The parade committee said it hoped the 'Go Fund Me' page would raise enough funds to deliver 'the festival that Athlone deserves'.

The page went online on January 30, with the aim of generating at least €3,000. So far it has attracted twelve donations, amounting to a total of €1,390.

Michelle Doyle of the St Patrick's Day parade committee said the decision to look for funding online was taken after the committee had little success when approaching businesses, door-to-door, with requests for support.

The parade receives funding from the council, but Michelle said this is only enough to pay for public liability insurance, security, and the main band on the day. 

'After that there is no money left to go towards the floats, or to create a spectacle,' she said.

The first business to donate to the crowdfunding page was Custom Cuts, which gave €500 towards the parade. Shannon Academy has since donated the same sum, while Athlone GAA club has given €100.

Michelle was delighted with the large donations but said even small amounts from the general public would be very welcome.

'There are over 20,000 people living in the Athlone area and if everyone donated €2 we'd have enough money to put on a good parade for the next five years,' she said.

The standard of the town's St Patrick's Day parade came in for criticism last year, with Athlone Chamber of Commerce saying there had been a low level of engagement with the event from traders and other organisations in the town.

Michelle said that, from her experience working in the hospitality industry, she could see the economic benefits the parade brings to Athlone.

'If the St Patrick's Day parade didn't go ahead, the loss of revenue to the town would be absolutely massive. People in business are gaining from the parade, but not enough are willing to put their hand in their pocket to support it.

'It's something that really benefits the town but with the cost of public liability insurance going up, the current level of funding isn't going to be enough to sustain a parade in the years ahead.

'Unless more funding comes in, it's going to die a death, and St Patrick's Day will be just another day in Athlone. It would be so sad if that was to happen.'

The St Patrick's Day parade committee consists of Caoimhe O'Connell (chairperson), Elaine Kilmartin, Mary Kilmartin, Helen McCaul and Michelle Doyle.

The 'Go Fund Me' page for the parade is at: www.gofundme.com/stpatricksdayathlone,while more details about the parade can be found on its facebook page: 'St Patricks Day Festival Athlone' or by emailing: info@tonnta.ie

'The Go Fund Me page has been shared a lot but if we got small donations from a lot of people it would really help so much,' said Michelle.