Thousands pray it will not rain on their parade

Parades:Hundreds of thousands of people across the country will take to the streets today to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

Today's celebrations are likely to enjoy reasonably clement weather with the rain expected to hold off until later this afternoon when the parades in Dublin, Belfast and Cork will have finished.

A record number of overseas visitors will watch the parades, but there will also be a record exodus for St Patrick's Day weekend with an estimated 17,000 Irish supporters in Rome for the potentially decisive Six Nations match between Ireland and Italy.

It is hoped that the presence of approximately 1,000 gardaí on the streets and the voluntary closure of all off-licences in the centre of Dublin until 4pm will help avoid a repeat of the scenes which marred the 2005 event and led to 700 arrests.

The parades in both Dublin and Limerick will have a theme based on myths and legends.

GAA commentator Mícheál O Muircheartaigh will take the lead as Grand Marshal of the Dublin parade as it makes its 3km journey from Parnell Square at noon.

The parade in Cork will feature presentations from 1,200 community and voluntary groups as well as Dowctha Puppets and Spraoi, the Waterford-based street performance company which is the only group performing in three parades - Dublin, Cork and Waterford.

In Armagh the newly enthroned Church of Ireland Primate Dr Alan Harper and the Catholic Primate of All-Ireland Dr Sean Brady will hold In the Spirit of Patrick, a special service at both the Anglican and Catholic cathedrals in Armagh.

For those more inclined to stay at home, it will be a busy day of sport. The Ireland v Italy match which starts at 1.30pm will be followed directly by the France v Scotland game.

Ireland will need to win by five more points than France to capture their first championship in 22 years.

In Kingston, Jamaica, the thousand-strong "Blarney Army" will be out in force for Ireland's Cricket World Cup match against Pakistan.

After the dramatic tie against Zimbabwe on Thursday, today's encounter is likely to be the most high-profile cricket match in Irish history.

Ireland are 8 to 1 to cause an upset and a double on Ireland to win the Six Nations championship and to beat Pakistan will pay out at 25 to 1 at Paddy Power.

Today also sees the All-Ireland club finals, while the schools' rugby finals, which have long been staples of St Patrick's Day, will be staggered over the weekend because of the international rugby.

Met Éireann says some parades in the west and north of the country are likely to experience scattered showers, but the rain will hold off in Munster and Leinster until the evening.

Temperatures at between 9 and 12 degrees will be about average for the time of year, but the weather is likely to get a lot worse for the rest of the Bank Holiday weekend with snow in some hilly parts of the north and west of the country.

A Met Éireann spokesman said: "As the weekend goes on, there will be snow showers particularly in northern areas on Sunday and into Monday. It will feel bitterly cold."

While highs of 15 degrees are expected in Dublin today, it is expected to be bitingly cold tomorrow evening for the National Lottery Skyfest in the Docklands with the temperature falling to low single figures.

St Patrick's Day will, as usual, be marked around the world with parades across almost every time zone from Tokyo to Honolulu in Hawaii.

For the first time there will be a St Patrick's Day parade through the Menin Gate in Belgium to commemorate the thousands of Irishmen, both Protestant and Catholic, who fought side by side during the first World War.

Earlier, there will also be an interdenominational service at the Round Tower in Messines.