Today (19-March) in Montreal Minister of State Eoghan Murphy, as part of his wider St. Patrick's Day mission in Canada, joined the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Mayor of Montreal Denis Cordere to review the city's St. Patrick's Day parade.
Mayor Cordere holds the honour of being the Grand Marshal for the 194th Montreal St. Patrick’s Day parade.
Today's parade will include 110 floats, 3000 marchers, and with over a half a million spectators expected to line the route. The parade was organised by the United Irish Societies of Montreal.
On the margins of the parade Minister of State Eoghan Murphy took the opportunity to thank both the Prime Minister and Mayor for their support of this celebration of the Irish community in Canada.
Following a brief exchange with Prime Minister Trudeau, Minister of State Eoghan Murphy commented:
"The Prime Minister's attendance here today is a reflection of our shared heritage and the strong bonds between our two countries. I took the opportunity to thank him for the welcome Canada extended to the thousands of recent Irish immigrants during the worst of the financial crisis, and to briefly discuss the outlook for Ireland and Canada given the uncertainty of recent times."