‘Hugely disappointing’ that Dundalk will not have a St Patrick’s Day parade in 2026

By Olivia Ryan, The Drogheda Independent

The streets of Dundalk are set to be a lot quieter this St. Patrick’s Day with no parade for the first time in many years.

The “hugely disappointing” news emerged at the January meeting of Louth County Council where Cllr. Maeve Yore said she had been informed by the new organising committee that there will not be a parade in Dundalk this year.

“Why is not going to go ahead? It is lack of funding,” said Cllr. Yore.

She added that the annual parade is one of the largest community events held in the county, with five local communities supporting it and a wide range of voluntary groups making the event such a success in recent years.

A spokesman for the voluntary group which took over when the 2025 organising committee stood down confirmed to independent.ie that the “funding gap” could not be bridged.

He said costs for running the annual event had spiralled, and it was likely now “too late” for a parade to be held in March.

“It would cost almost €60,000 to put it on this year,” he explained.

“St. Patrick’s Day in Dundalk isn’t just the parade, it is all the other events that take place that as well.”

He said a substantial increase in funding from Louth County Council was needed for St. Patrick’s Day events in Dundalk, citing the “huge cost” of insurance, providing safety barriers and the clean up afterwards.

“The council would need to cover fifty per cent of costs, and the other half could be raised by the private sector, and through sponsorship.”

He said it was very disappointing that Dundalk won’t have a parade on St. Patrick’s Day this year, adding: “Local businesses and retailers will certainly feel the impact of nothing happening in town this year.”

At the January council meeting, Cllr. Maeve Yore also argued that “larger festivals like this should receive more funding.”

"The festivals grant is a great initiative, but if it doesn’t cover the costs of a festival it’s not.”

Cllr. Yore added: “You will find that Louth taxpayers will prefer to spend money on local events rather than other events.

In response, Thomas McEvoy, Deputy Chief Executive at Louth County Council, said the Dundalk St. Patrick’s Day Parade is not run by the council.

The local authority have provided financial support for the event, but it is not a council festival, he added.

“We have looked at alternative arrangements. Along with support from Louth County Council, I know that Dundalk Chamber of Commerce, Dundalk Credit Union and Dundalk BIDS were also happy to support it.”

He said the organising committee, which took over following the 2025 festival weren’t in a position financially to host it.

Mr. McEvoy said the council have arranged to meet the committee about plans for the festival next year.

He added that the Festivals Grant scheme was limited to the €200,000 which had been adopted by councillors.

"We have to divide that out, and we obviously want to spread that out as much as we can throughout the county. We do have a cap of €8000 on that so that we can support as many festivals as possible.”

Speaking after the meeting, Cllr. Yore said: “It is hugely disappointing that one of the largest towns in Ireland won’t have a parade. Even though we are hearing about plans for next year, you can’t lose momentum with events like this.”