Sunshine smiles on snakes, sea monsters and samba bands

SNAKES, sea monsters, Vikings and samba bands provided the sparkle in St Patrick’s Day celebrations around the country yesterday while the saint himself supplied the weather.

One hundred years after the day was officially declared a public holiday, the festival was fresher, the spectacle more sensational and the crowds more exuberant than ever.

Thousands of spectators sporting shades and ice-cream cones lined the streets of Cork yesterday in the country's second largest parade.