Pride of place at the forthcoming St Patrick’s Day parade in Cork will go to anybody celebrating their 100th birthday this year.

A crack team sliced and diced their way through a mountain of spuds and veggies yesterday to help feed a city today.

The organisers of Cork’s St Patrick’s Day parade say it will be the biggest in the city’s history and expect a three-day festival, organised around the national holiday, will attract 80,000 visitors.