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(From Agence France Presse)
Bright sunshine lured up to half a million people onto the streets as Ireland celebrated its national festival, Saint Patrick's Day, this year with a strongly European flavour.
Colourful parades were the high point of what has evolved from a one-day public holiday into a week of Mardi Gras-style festivities which provide an early kick-start to the Irish tourist season.
In the capital Dublin, a crowd estimated at up to 500,000 watched a two-hour parade involving 3,500 participants led by Ireland's Miss World winner Rosanna Davison.
Maria Moynihan, chief executive of Dublin's festival, said a study had found the celebrations were worth about 80 million euros (98 million dollars) to the city's economy.
The Dublin parade's theme, "Glorious", had a strong European input this year with a bagpipe band from Madrid, Lume de Biqueira, receiving a special welcome after last week's deadly bombings in the Spanish capital.
Other participants included marching bands from the United States and performers from as far afield as Poland and Slovenia.