Irish embassies spent €600k on nearly 900 St Patrick's Day events

The cost of setting up 11 new Irish missions across the world in 2022 came to €6.5m

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (right) presents US President Joe Biden with a bowl of Shamrock during this year's St Patrick's Day reception at the White House in Washington DC. The Irish embassy in Washington DC had the largest single spend with its 34 events coming in at €55,000. File photo: Niall Carson/PA

Ireland's embassies and missions across the globe delivered almost 900 Saint Patrick's Day events for just over €600,000.

Figures released to the Irish Examiner under freedom of information show that events were held in nearly every mission, with the 896 events costing less than €700 each on average for a total of €618,152.