RTÉ unveils St Patrick's Day coverage

RTÉ has unveiled its St Patrick's Day coverage across television, radio and online.

The annual Skyfest fireworks display will kick-off coverage on RTÉ Television on Saturday 15 March and will be broadcast live on RTÉ One from the Rock of Cashel. The event will be hosted by IFTA TV Personality of the Year Kathryn Thomas and feature live performances by Jerry Fish and the Mudbug Club.

The St Patrick's Festival Parade will follow on Monday 17 March with RTÉ's Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, Derek Mooney and Aidan Power all helping to bring the best of the parade to viewers all around the country. A highlights programme will also air that evening.

RTÉ News will also present extensive coverage of the St Patrick's Day celebrations, with reports from dozens of parades both at home and abroad, while Nationwide's Mary Kennedy and Michael Ryan will be in Liverpool to find out more about the city's Irish connection and the highlights of its cultural programme.

RTÉ Radio 1 will feature mass from St Patrick's Cathedral on Saturday 15 March at 10am, while 'Spectrum' will look at the more multi-cultural aspects of the great parade later that evening.

A host of music and business programmes will also be broadcast from Saturday 15 March, while the 'Documentary on One' team will take a close look at some of the national holiday's moods and motivations on Sunday 16 March at 7.02pm.

In addition to his 17 March show, in an extended Good Friday radio programme Ryan Tubridy will feature some of the best live Irish music acts from The Tubridy Show over the past 12 months. Among those who will feature on the 21 March show are: Sinéad O'Connor, Neil Hannon, Fionn Regan, Juliet Turner, Duke Special, Fred, Declan O'Rourke and Paula Flynn.

RTÉ.ie will live-stream the St Patrick's Festival Parade and Skyfest broadcasts, as well as showing highlights from parades nationwide and internationally.