St Patrick's Day in pictures across NI and Ireland

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Image source, Pacemaker
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These three leprechauns were out to watch the parade in Belfast.
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Things got off to an energetic start in Belfast with a 10k run through the city, while street performers and musicians were still getting ready elsewhere.
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Joseph Cunningham and Callum Spicer donned green in Belfast city centre and looked excited as they waited for the parade.
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The main colour on show was of course green, but in Belfast the parade was multicoloured as arts performers took part in the family-friendly show.
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Participants in the Belfast parade pass city hall. This year's theme at the Belfast parade was People, Place and Planet.
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Bagpipers were among the many musicians taking part in the Belfast parade, which wound its way past the city hall and around town.
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This couple in Belfast didn't even need a Kiss Me I'm Irish T shirt.
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Sometimes you see the best things when you look the other direction from the rest of the crowd, like this girl in Belfast.
Image source, Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
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In Dublin St Patrick was spotted taking pictures with onlookers during the parade.
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Damien Fitzsimmons and daughter Dearbhla, who has been learning about the saint in school, at St Patrick’s grave in Downpatrick.
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Crowds gathered in Downpatrick to watch a parade after a pilgrimage walk and wreath laying at Saint Patrick's grave in the town.
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The Downpatrick parade was headed up by a cavalcade of classic cars, bringing onlookers a taste of the past.
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It wasn't just dancers and cars entertaining the crowd: Willy Wonka and his team of Oompa Loompas, colourful characters and tasty looking treats added to the magic on display in Downpatrick.
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About 1500 people made the climb up Slemish Mountain, believed to be St Patrick's first home in Ireland. Ana Gallagher and Edward McKendry were part of a music group greeting pilgrims at the top.
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One of the most dapper Slemish climbers was Jesse Lezama, right. He wore his wedding suit, commemorating his engagement to wife Séimhín on St Patrick's Day last year. The couple married in July.
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Londonderry's parade theme was Out of the Darkness into the Light. What could be more appropriate for a springtime theme than to dress as a flower, as these young performers from the Rainbow School of Dance Eglinton have done.
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A number of loyalist bands took part in a procession on Saturday as part of the second Greater Shankill St Patrick's Day Festival. Reverend Tracey McRoberts told the BBC that loyalists and unionists had not always found it easy to identify with St Patrick's Day and with some of the symbols in the main parade, but that organisers hoped to show people St Patrick's significance to all who live in this part of the world.
Image source, Getty/Charles McQuillan
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Patrick Kielty, grand master of the Dublin parade, met Irish wolfhound Ruari from the Dublin fire service.

17 March 2024