Grand Marshal for St Patrick's Day Parade announced

The Croí na hÉireann Festival Committee is delighted to announce the selection of Gerry Johnson, Chairman of the Athlone Tidy Towns Committee, as the St Patricks Day Parade Grand Marshal for 2024.

The five-day festival starts on Thursday, March 14 and finishes with a major colourful parade on Monday, March 18.

Congratulating Gerry on his selection, festival committee chairman John Henson said there is an old saying that "You will never get a second chance to make a first impression" and certainly the Tidy Towns Committee have played a huge part in raising the standards of cleanliness and appearance of Athlone and its environs and presenting a really good first impression of Athlone to all visitors .

"This is also reflected in the fact they have won three Gold Medals in recent years in the Tidy Towns national competition," Mr Henson added.

"Their involvement with competitions in local estates have helped develop a buy in from the residents and increase the volunteer numbers and pride in their own local area.

He continued: "The Committee is a totally voluntary group who liaise with local councillors, county council officials, council employees and departments and the person who pulls all of these groups together is the Chairman, Gerry Johnson.

"The beautiful Sensory garden at the Regional Sports centre is a perfect example of different bodies coming together to work for the greater good of all in the town.

Gerry Johnson said that he is both delighted and honoured to be chosen and said he gratefully accepted the role as a representative of the Tidy Towns Committee.

" It is gratifying to see the hard work and efforts of this committee being recognised in this manner and hopefully it will raise the profile of this group even higher and lead to a greater awareness and participation levels locally " he said following his selection as the Grand Marshal to lead the parade on Monday, March 18 next.