Athletics legend Eamonn Coghlan will be the marshal for this year's St Patrick's parade in Dublin, it was announced today.
Coghlan competed in four Olympic Games and won the 5,000-metre World Championship title in 1983. It is 25 years this year since he set the world record for the indoor mile, which stood until 1997.
"I am delighted and honoured to have the opportunity to lead the 2008 St. Patrick's Festival Parade. It is a privilege that not many people are afforded, and as a proud Irishman and Dubliner I am really looking forward to what will undoubtedly be a day to remember," Coghlan said.
Previous grand marshals have included Mícheál Ó'Muircheartaigh (2007), Ronnie Drew (2006), Mick McCarthy (2002), Pauline McLynn (2000) and Ronan Keating and Keith Duffy (1998).
Over 500,000 people are expected to line the festival parade route this year, with more than six million people watching on television in Ireland and around the world, organisers said.
Some 3,000 people will participate in the event, which has the theme "Energy".