West Cork flavour to London parade

THERE was a strong West Cork flavour to this year’s Mayor of London’s St Patrick’s parade, as head of the festival committee is Larry O’Leary from Clonakilty, who has resided in London since an early age while the organiser of the St Patrick’s Ball is Jacqueline O’Donovan, whose roots are firmly entrenched in Goleen.

Larry O'Leary, originally Clonakilty, with Katie-George Dunlevy, Irish gold paralympian athlete and grand-marshal of the parade

Jacqui, through the O’Donovan family, also sponsors the corporate breakfast on the morning of the parade while Clonakilty Blackpudding, run by Colette Twomey, sponsored the grand marshals Kellie Harrington and Katie George Dunlevy, who had fantastic interaction with the vast crowd along the route.

The Clonakilty business also sponsored the jerseys for a group of 65 Fr Murphy’s girls, who carried all the county flags at the head of the parade, while the headline sponsor was Cork company John Sisk.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan getting into camogie and football with the London-based Fr Murphy's club, whose jerseys are sponsored by Clonakilty Blackpudding.

Mayor Sadiq Khan was accompanied by Minister Norma Foley TD and her husband Denis, together with Kellie  and Katie and more.

‘The parade was very much a community event, with several stops along the way for photos with the grand marshals the mayor and the minister,’ said Larry.

It made its way to Trafalgar Square, where the lead group were invited onto the main stage for speeches, followed by a festival on stage and a tour of the various stalls and exhibitions.

‘The first stop was to the Clonakilty Black pudding stall for the specialty breakfast rolls!’ said Larry.