Watch a video of the entire St. Patrick's Day Parade that was shot from the reviewing stand.

The Seattle P-I has photos and writes about the Green Stripe.

The Seattle Times has photos of the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Also see photos of Seattle's St. Patrick's Day Parade taken by Gabby Jacobsen and Mary Dunne.

See photos of the Irish Week Proclamation Luncheon taken by Gabby Jacobsen.

See photos of the St. Patrick's Day Mass taken by Gabby Jacobsen.

NEWS FROM IRELAND

ECONOMIC PROGRESS - Ireland, with the third-fastest projected growth rate in the euro region this year, is restoring competitiveness lost since 2007, the height of the Celtic Tiger era. Exports, at about 170 billion euros, are about 9% higher than 2007. Ireland's Stock Exchange index, though down 61% since 2007, has risen 37% in the last two years, making it the best performer in Europe over the period. Ireland's flat corporate tax rate of 12.5% compares with 35% in the US, 33% in France and 24% in the UK.

POST REPORT - The Washington Post recently wrote about Ireland, "The country successfully sold longer-term government bonds Wednesday, a sign that international investors regard its rebound as durable and that it will end its reliance on an international bailout program later this year. It would be the first euro-zone country to achieve that milestone. The economy is growing - slowly - despite a regional recession. Employment and foreign investment are rising.".

BAILOUT EXIT - Ireland took a major step towards exiting its bailout program recently by selling $6.5 billion worth of 10-year bonds.It was the first issuance of 10-year notes since the country entered its EU-IMF bailout in late 2010. The new debt will yield about 4.15%. At the height of the euro financial crisis two year ago, the yield on Ireland's 2020 bond climbed to over 15%.

EDUCATED WORKFORCE - A Eurostat Report says that Ireland has the most higher education graduates per head of population of all 27 countries of the European Union, with 51.1% of Ireland's residents having degrees. A higher proportion of Irish women aged 30-34 had completed tertiary education than men with 57.9% having degrees. The median age of Irish students in post-secondary education is 20.3. Eurostat is the European Union's statistical agency.

15th ANNIVERSARY - Guided by Senator George Mitchell and coaxed on phone calls from President Clinton, leaders of Northern Ireland's main political parties signed the 65-page Good Friday Agreement in Belfast on April 10, 1998, establishing the Northern Ireland Assembly and a political framework to advance the peace process. Northern Ireland has made great progress in the last fifteen years, developing its economy and infrastructure, and becoming a functioning and civil society. Noting the anniversary last week, President Obama said that the people of Northern Ireland and their leaders had "traded bullets for ballots, destruction and division for dialogue and institutions, and pointed the way toward a shared future for all.".

EASTER MIRACLE - In the New York Times, Irish author Colum McCann calls the Good Friday Agreement an "Easter Miracle in Northern Ireland". Of Senator George Mitchell who guided the process, McCann writes "he split a feather down the middle and encouraged both halves to take flight." Today, he says, "Most people live a life that they could not have dreamed of during the Troubles.".

THATCHER'S IRISH LEGACY - Few in Ireland would disagree with the report on Margaret Thatcher's death which said that, "She was loathed by republicans, disliked by nationalists and distrusted by unionists". Most Irish people believe her intransigence on Northern Irish affairs, especially during the 1981 hunger strikes, was a significant factor that helped prolong The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

ANGLO-IRSH AGREEMENT - But in 1985 Thatcher  signed the Anglo-Irish Agreement which formally accepted that the Irish government should have a say in the running of Northern Ireland. That huge concession came just four years after she had declared that Northern Ireland was as "British as Finchley", her own constituency. It came just a year after the IRA had nearly killed her in the Brighton Hotel bombing and at a time when violence in Northern Ireland was at its height. That first step ultimately led to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement which effectively ended The Troubles.

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE - Ireland's Constitutional Convention has voted overwhelmingly in favor of recommending that the Irish Constitution be changed to allow for civil marriages for same-sex couples. The Convention has already recommended lowering the voting age to 16. Political parties and groups in the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) nominated 100 representatives to serve as Convention members. Political parties in Northern Ireland were also invited to nominate one representative each. Citizens were selected randomly on the basis of groups representative of Irish society generally and balanced in terms of gender, age and region, etc.

IRA TAPES - The US Supreme Court has turned down a Boston College appeal that sought to keep interviews with former IRA members from being turned over to police in Northern Ireland who are investigating the IRA's abduction, murder and secret burial of a Belfast woman in 1972. Former IRA members were interviewed by researchers between 2001 and 2006 on condition that the material would not be released until after their deaths. The interviews were intended to be a resource for journalists, scholars and historians studying the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

SCHOOL CHANGES - In most areas in the Republic of Ireland, there are just Catholic-run schools and sometimes Church of Ireland (Anglican) schools.Now a Department of Education report has recommended the establishment of 23 multi-denominational primary schools across Ireland and the Catholic Church will re-configure their existing schools to free up accommodation for the new alternatives. Most areas will see little change as the vast majority of parents surveyed are happy with the existing arrangement.

HARSH WEATHER - Despite emergency fodder drops made in north Antrim by helicopter crews from the Irish Air Corps and the British army, more than 18,000 sheep and 537 cattle died due to the worst late March and Easter weather conditions for 50 years. 13,797 of the sheep were new season lambs and over 200 of the cattle were calves under six months. Some were buried in drifts, others froze or starved to death in isolated fields as roads were blocked by snow drifts.

HUNGER CONFERENCE - At an international conference in Dublin this week discussing climate change, hunger and poor nutrition, the Irish government has committed to giving at least $27.5 million to the UN's World Food Program over the next three years. The two-day conference, Hunger - Nutrition - Climate Justice 2013, is exploring the links between climate change, hunger and poor nutrition, and their impact on the world's most vulnerable communities. Former Irish President Mary Robinson told reporters that "it is a scandal" that one in seven people in the world are hungry and that children are stunted from malnutrition.

RETURNING EMIGRANTS - More than 100,000 Irish emigrants have returned to Ireland from abroad since 2008. Although some 87,100 people left Ireland in 2012, 52,700 more came back to Ireland, giving a net outward migration figure of 34,400. According to research carried out in 2010, returning Irish emigrants earn 7% more than their peers with similar qualifications who never emigrated. There is a shortage in Ireland of skilled IT personnel, in international financial services, and language skills.

CHILD FRIENDLY - A United Nations Children's Fund 

(UNICEF) report charting the well-being of children in 29 rich countries, ranked Ireland as the 10th best place in the world for children, ahead of both the UK (16th) and the USA (26th). The rankings measured material well-being, health and safety, education, behaviors and risks, and housing and environment. The report says that 86% of children in Ireland are happy with their lives, that Ireland has the highest rate of children who exercise - almost one in three - for at least one hour daily, that 83% of Irish children find it easy to talk to their mothers, and 68% to their fathers.

PROSPEROUS DUBLIN - The United Nations habitat index ranks Dublin as the world's fourth most prosperous city, defined as a place where human beings find satisfaction of basic needs and access to essential public goods. The index marks cities against five indicators: productivity, quality of life, infrastructure, environment and equity. One of the factors in Dublin's favor was that the gap between rich and poor was found to be much less in Dublin than in larger cities like London and New York.

TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS - The 2013 Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index assesses economies worldwide based on the extent to which they are putting in place the factors and policies to make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism sector. The 2013 Report ranks Ireland in 19th place out of the 140 countries surveyed.

RETIREMENT HEAVEN - The Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch has Ireland in 1st place on its listing of the best places to retire abroad. It says about Ireland, "There are countless small villages both on the coast and in the countryside of Ireland that would make great places to retire."

BLOOMING MISTAKE - A limited edition €10 ($13) commemorative silver coin recently released by Ireland's Central Bank features a design of Irish author James Joyce, along with a quote from Ulysses. However, the quoted line has an extra "that" not in Joyce's original. Despite the mistake and a €46 ($60) purchase price, the coin has already sold out.

SPORT SCHOLARSHIPS - Undergraduate American scholar-athletes who are interested in attending graduate programs at universities in Galway, Limerick or the University of Ulster can apply for a 2013-2014 Sport Changes Life 'Victory' Scholarship. Closing date for applications is April 30.

• A Presidential Proclamation by President Obama declared March 2013 as Irish-American Heritage Month.
• Pope Francis sent a special greeting to the people of Ireland to mark St. Patrick's Day.
• BBC News highlighted the green lighting on the Pacific Science Center's arches among their listing of landmarks worldwide that went green for St. Patrick's Day.
• Ireland is the 14th largest investor in the US, with 300 Irish companies across all 50 states collectively employing more than 85,000 Americans.
• Dublin was #6 on the AARP's listing of 10 Must-Visit International Destinations.
• Maryland has passed a bill requiring the Governor to proclaim the month of March each year as Irish American Heritage Month and urging educational and cultural organizations to observe the month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities.
• IBM has been operating in Ireland since 1956 and today employs over 3,200 Irish workers.
• Google employs more than 2,500 people in Ireland.
• An estimated one in five Irish people has lived abroad at some stage.
• Searching for your Tipperary ancestors? If so, check out the March issue of Irish Lives Remembered FREE Genealogy eMag.
• All 20,000 pages in The Belfast Street Directories from 1819 to 1900 have been scanned, OCR'd and indexed enabling users throughout the world to search online for key words in these Victorian era directories.
• See photos of the recent Connemara International Marathon.
• More than 30,000 Irish firms have directors registered in offshore jurisdictions like the British Virgin Islands and the Seychelles.
• A leading Irish wave-rider and a "big surf" photographer who captured one of Sligo's infamous waves off Mullaghmore Head in Co. Sligo have been shortlisted for a prestigious global surfing award.
• On July 1st, two Irishmen and two Canadians will attempt to row the Northwest Passage in a single season - one of the Earth's last great firsts.
• Because of the threat of war, Concern, an Irish charity that works with the world's poorest people, last week suspended its aid work in North Korea where it has 14 workers, but has now resumed its aid work.
• The World Bank estimates that Irish people living abroad sent $800 million home in 2012, often sending the money to pay a mortgage.
• Former US Ambassador to Ireland, Dan Rooney, tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about his experiences in Ireland.
• Hollywood actor and producer Tom Cruise recently visited Dublin and discovered he is descended from a Norman Knight named Cruise who came to Ireland in the 12th century with Strongbow, the man whose invasion lead to the English conquest of Ireland.
• Its important to learn how to speak Dublinese.
• Gillian Anderson, who played an FRI agent in the X-files, stars in a new BBC series The Fall which airs in April. She plays a detective superintendent tracking a serial killer in Belfast.
• London was the most visited overseas city by Irish travelers in 2012, followed by New York and Paris.
• March 2013 was the coldest since records began at most weather stations in Ireland. Dublin Airport reported an average temperature of 37.5 degrees F, which was its coldest March since the site opened in 1942.
• The Guildhall in Derry has the 2nd largest clockface in Ireland or the UK, with Big Ben having the largest.
• Blarney Castle turned blue for one week on April 2 to mark World Autism Day. The Cork landmark changed its colors as part of Autism Speaks' 'Light It Up Blue' awareness and fundraising campaign.
• A video about Lahinch Golf Club, one of the finest links golf courses in the world.
• A 600-year-old body was found recently by archaeologists excavating a crannog site in Co Fermanagh. Crannogs are artificial islands built in lakes or rivers which were used for dwellings.
• See some wonderful less well known historical sites in Ireland.
• Green Sod Ireland was established in 2007 to protect Irish ecosystems, and plans to establish wildlife corridors around Ireland.
• Derry City walls are Northern Ireland's largest state monument. They were commissioned 400 years ago in 1713 to defend 17th century English and Scottish settlers from the Irish.
• There are 365 lakes in Co. Cavan.
• A group of eight Irish and British soldiers are working on the ground in the African war zone of Mali, as part of a military training mission.
• An interview with former Irish president Mary Robinson in the New York Times magazine.
• In Ireland, the average annual leave entitlement is 20 days, supplemented by nine public holidays.
• A History of Ireland in 100 Objects is available as an interactive app for Apple iPhone and iPad, eReaders, etc.
• Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister skipped a St Patrick's Day trip to Savannah, GA, site of the 2nd largest St. Patrick's Day Parade in the US, to avoid attending a dinner hosted by the Ancient Order of Hibernians which does not permit women to attend.
• Irish people are drinking 4.75 pints of alcohol less than they did 11 years ago, down 19% since 2001.
• Starlings perform in one of nature's most amazing spectacles, and this time it's a Wexford Murmurmation.
• Irish university students must pay an annual registration fee of $3,277 for an undergraduate course of study. Although it doesn't cover room and board, it is a pittance compared to what a year of higher education costs in the US.
• A Bostonian was stunned to learn of a cousin who died in Ireland leaving her with a share of a $1.5 million estate in Galway.
• Seattle's former Deputy Mayor and former Seattle-Galway Association President Tom Keefe had a little fun in Spokane leading up to St. Patrick's Day.
• Korean car giant Kia has dropped plans to brand its new concept car The Provo - after a Northern Ireland Unionist politician claimed that the proposed name offended those who had suffered at the hands of the Provisional IRA.
• John Patrick Shanley wonders in the New York Times "how such wonderful eccentric folk as I saw around me were able to spring from such impoverished ground".
• Marks & Spencer, the British retail giant, has apologized to a woman whose Irish passport was not accepted as a valid form of identification at their store outside Belfast.
• There're 34.5 million people who claimed Irish ancestry in 2011 in the United States. That is the second largest group after German Americans.
• The average annual income for Irish-American households is $57,319 compared to the national average of $50,502.
• See how Northern Ireland's wall paintings are changing.