Members of the Irish County Associations and patrons of the London Irish Centre, Camden town will travel in comfort in this year’s St Patrick’s Day Parade thanks to an initiative by Club Rossie and Roscommon GAA.
Their day will begin with the annual Council of Irish County Associations’ St Patrick’s Day Mass at 8:30am, followed by a Full Irish Breakfast sponsored by Clonakilty Black Pudding (Tickets available from 07944178879 OR cica.london18@gmail.com) and then at approximately 10:30am over 50 people will be taken aboard the Roscommon GAA Team Coach and will travel amongst the fleet of floats and groups along the St Patrick’s Day Parade route.
Now in it’s 18th year, the Mayor of London’s St. Patrick’s Festival is the largest celebration of Irish culture and community in London and culminates with the Parade on Sunday March 15th. The Parade route starts at Green Park and arrives at Trafalgar Square for the main event, which runs from 12 – 6pm. The festival showcases the best of Irish arts, performance, culture, food, and music including headliners Imelda May and Kila.
Commenting on the news Larry O’Leary, Chairman of the Council of Irish Counties (CCIA) London, said
“We are so grateful to Club Rossie/Roscommon GAA for this fantastic opportunity, of getting people to participate in the parade, who otherwise would not have been able to, everyone is very excited about this.”
“We also support the “Win a Home in London” and hope it will raise significant funds for the Roscommon GAA community. Roscommon GAA are guests of local Club Fr Murphy’s Camogie & Ladies Football Club on their stall in Trafalgar Square, where we hope all will visit them and support their initiative.”
Aidan Brady, Commercial Director with Roscommon GAA said
“For well over 60 years the London Irish Centre has been central to the lives of many people who have left Ireland behind for a better life. St Patrick’s Day celebrations are also big occasion for the Irish abroad. We knew than many older members of the Irish community in London, who attend the Centre, can no longer play an active part in the Parade so when we decided to bring our Bus to London for the Parade we approached the London Irish Centre to ask would they like to use it for the day in order to give some of their service users to opportunity to experience all the colour and excitement of the day.”
Roscommon GAA are bringing their Bus to the UK as part of their promotion of the “Win a Home in London” fundraising competition. The winner will receive they keys to a breath-taking two-bedroom apartment, by Ecoworld Ballymore, and can be found in the most idyllic location London City has to offer. Dubbed a ‘mini-Manhattan,’ London City Island is situated a stone’s throw from Canary Wharf. It is home to some of the UK’s most important cultural institutions, including English National Ballet, London Film School and several leading art galleries.
Launched on December 9th there has been great interest in “Win a Home in London” so far with more than 7,200 entries from over 20 countries.
Entries are accepted online at winahomeinlondon.com with an entry fee of €100 (which equates to approximately £85). Club Rossie, the commercial and fundraising arm of Roscommon GAA will also have a stall at Trafalgar Square on March 15th. The competition Draw will be held on Sunday May 10th, a week after Roscommon and London meet in the Connacht GAA Senior Football Championship.
All funds raised from “Win a Home in London” will go towards the redevelopment of Roscommon’s Stadium, Dr Hyde Park, and the development of a new Centre of Excellence, which has been named in honour of the great Dermot Earley. For more information email hello@winahomeinlondon.com or visit winahomeinlondon.com