The economic contribution of the Saint Patrick’s Festival to Dublin is estimated at €110m, including €28m directly benefiting the exchequer.
Regional locations like Cork, Killarney, Limerick, Waterford, Sligo, and Kilkenny receive an economic impact estimated at €19m.
Attendance for the festival is expected to reach 550,000, with foreign visitors numbering around 100,000.
The festival engages 4,200 artists and performers, leading to an estimated 11,000 days of employment opportunities.
Fáilte Ireland is hosting 39 international media representatives this weekend, with a combined audience of 137m.
Festival CEO Richard Tierney shared “There’s still an insatiable demand for St Patrick’s Day and the festival. I think we’re great as a nation no matter what is thrown at us, we love being Irish and we celebrate being Irish, and I think that’s what the festival does.
“We don’t see any drop off in numbers, looking at overall international visitors coming this year, they’re saying they’re marginally down on last year. But we’re definitely growing and we’re going to keep growing it in terms of what we can do with it.
“At 12:36 on O’Connell Bridge we can have a billion eyeballs looking at us, so we’ve got to make sure that we’re giving the best cultural and artistic representation of Ireland that we can. It’s important to note that the St Patrick’s Day Festival is the kick off to the Irish tourism season, so it has a very strong economic value.”
