Patrick Kielty will have a very special role in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade

This comes six months after Kielty was announced as the new host of The Late Late Show

Many kids who recognise the TV personality as Buddy the Elf from The Late Late Toy Show, will now see him in a whole new light this March 17th.

Kielty will take over Grand Marshal duties for the annual parade and has expressed his excitement about being part of the capital's celebrations.

“I couldn’t be more excited to be this year’s Grand Marshal and can’t thank the Festival enough for asking me to be part of our biggest day.

"It’s such a honour to be asked and I was genuinely gobsmacked when the call came in.

"When you’re lucky enough to be called Patrick, St Patrick’s Day always feels like an extra birthday and I can’t wait to get the world’s biggest party started on March 17th," Kielty said of the announcement.

The theme of this year’s Festival and Parade is ‘Spréach’, the Irish word for Spark, "which represents the unique essence of Ireland and of Irish People".

The St Patrick's Day parade festival gets underway on Sunday, March 17th from 12pm.

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