€1.5m for Cork St Patrick’s Day parade and other events

Cork City Council is expected to spend €1.5m on event management and security for the St Patrick’s Day parade and other ‘ad hoc’ events in the coming years.

In an invitation to tender, Cork City Council requires services for event management, security, and barrier provision to the value of €1.5m, with the bulk of this spend for the annual St Patrick’s Day parade.

Services will also be required for a number of “civic and ad hoc events arising in calendar year 2026”, the tender documents said, to include, but not limited to, commemoration events, visits from VIPs to the city, and Christmas events.

Referring to the St Patrick’s Day parade, the tender said: “[It] is the central event of the Cork St Patrick’s Festival weekend that attracts up to 60,000 people to the city and between 3,000 to 3,500 participants in the parade.”

“Other annual events that the events section may deliver include an event to celebrate the switch-on of the Christmas lights and Cork Christmas Festival.

“This framework may be used by other sections of Cork City Council, who deliver events such as the Carnival of Science, VIP visits, commemorations, etc, as well as other ad hoc events of various size and scale.”

The contract is initially being tendered for 2026, however, Cork City Council have said that the tender may be extended in to 2027, 2028, and 2029 - with an overall spend of up to €1.5m.

The tender process has been divided in to three, with lot one requiring event management to include liaising with emergency services, such as Cork City Fire Service and An Garda Síochána to ensure crowd safety, as well as providing First Aid and organising ambulances on standby. It will also include the planning of the St Patrick’s Day parade route, accepting applications from parade participants, and providing a supplier to manage different participant groups in the parade.

Lot two refers to security services and the provision of stewards for the event, with lot three referring to barrier provisions being required on Copley St and Anglesea St the day before the parade, as well as on South Mall and Merchants Quay on the day.