Manchester’s St Patrick’s Day Parade brought thousands of people out onto the streets to celebrate on Sunday afternoon, despite the downpours dampening the event.

The annual parade started at the Irish World Heritage Centre in Cheetham Hill, before trailing through the city centre and along Deansgate.

For 35 years, the parade has celebrated Irish culture in Manchester, with a range of music and dance groups participating.

The City of Manchester Pipe Band and Keegan Academy of Irish Dance were some of the groups that brought their talents to the event.

It is part of a full calendar of events at Irish bars and other venues across the city, organised by the Manchester Irish Festival.

Councillor Pat Karney, who was born in Dublin before coming to live in Manchester as a child, highlighted the ‘really big community’ of Irish people in Manchester.

“The city has a long history of welcoming Irish people in and taking them to their hearts and I’ll be forever grateful for the welcome Manchester showed me when I first arrived here as a child.”, he said.

“At the same time, I’m also really proud of the many contributions Irish people have made to this amazing city of ours.

“St Patrick’s Day is a really big date in the calendar for Irish people everywhere, and getting together with family, friends and others to celebrate and mark the day is really important to us.”, he added.