Last year they took a bite out of the Big Apple. This year they’ll be drinking in the atmosphere in London.
For the children of St Paul’s High School in Bessbrook will be proudly flying the flag for County Armagh at the city’s big St Patrick’s Day parade.
The pupils were the toast of New York in 2025, as millions turned out to celebrate what is truly a global occasion.
A unique and well-received inclusion in the parade, their perfect percussion performance had the crowds cheering for more.
And they’re sure to go down a treat in London too – before returning to parade in Armagh!
While 2025 centred on drums – all manner of them coming together in a fantastic rhythmic fusion – this year St Paul’s will be proving that this school is no one-trick pony.
Of course the drums will be back, so well received they were, but this time around it will be a multi-talented party departing tomorrow (Friday).
Teacher Peter Slane told Armagh I: “We’re leaving the school at 5am and we’re back on Monday night at about 12. We’re heading for Dublin Port and we’re getting the boat over from Dublin to Holyhead and then there’s a five-and-a-half hour bus journey then to London.
“Last year we went to New York, and it’s not that there’s anything wrong with Armagh and Newry parades, but it’s a bit hard to go back to that whenever the children have got that much exposure from it.
“We took 48 children to it. This year now we have got 92 children and staff going, so there’s two buses leaving the yard at five in the morning.”
A long weekend awaits the young people, aged between 11 and 18, who have been busy practising ahead of their travels.
There will, of course, be plenty of other engagements and opportunities to explore while there.
“We’re playing in the St Patrick’s Day parade on the Sunday and we are going to a show on the Saturday, Hercules, the musical,” explained Mr Slane. “We’re doing all the touristy stuff. We’re doing a boat trip in the morning. We’ve got a reception and we’re singing in the Houses of Parliament on the Monday morning too.
“We’re singing in St George’s Cathedral also and we’ve got a wee traditional group and they’re playing on Saturday night. We’re taking part in the Liturgy there. There’s a service on at 6pm and we’re singing and playing. And then we have a traditional group that are playing on the stage at Trafalgar Square.
“So it’s not just drums. It changed a wee bit. You’ve that many children going and that many things. An awful lot of them are involved in our choirs, so we said that we would look into singing somewhere, so we had applied to different places and we were lucky enough, and then it’s the same with the traditional group as well.
“There’s 15 traditional players too and they’re accompanying a choir from Rostrevor. They’re on that stage at Trafalgar Square and Brian Kennedy’s on it too. It’s a busy time for them. It’s a busy time for us all. It’s all go.
“We’re back heading for the boat, which is leaving Holyhead at 7.30pm on Monday. Hopefully we’ll be home late Monday night because we’re actually playing in the St Patrick’s Day parade in Armagh the next day. It’s a great thing that you can get two performances out!”
So, as said, multi-talented indeed.
And everyone needs the chance to practice and hone their talents ahead of the big weekend.
On Monday, when Armagh I caught up with Mr Slane, it was all systems go. There was a drums practice on the football field at eight o’clock, with the choir practice less than an hour later and instrumental after school.
Getting in some practice ahead of travelling to London.
For the St Patrick’s Day parade itself, a massive event, it will take place on the Sunday, and the St Paul’s group have been told to be at Hyde Park for 11am. While the pupils and staff were due to learn this week where they would be placed in the parade, they already know the route.
“It starts off beside Hyde Park and you’re going through all the iconic places like Piccadilly Circus, you’re going past 10 Downing Street, you’re going past Buckingham Palace, and then Knightsbridge, and then we finish then at Trafalgar Square,” said Mr Slane.
“Last year there was 500,000 people at it. Everybody parades into Trafalgar Square. It’s very iconic for a lot of cultural things. The Chinese New Year, they did a massive festival in there. Hanukkah they did a massive one too. St Patrick’s Day was something that I think Sadiq Khan, the Mayor, was heavily involved with.
“New York, I think, is two-and-a-half million people on 5th Avenue, but this year’s different. The fact that it’s on a Sunday, people are more or less going to it as opposed to commuting from work because of the day that it’s on.
“It is something big and, whenever you look at the ins and outs of it, it’s something that the children are very happy to be involved with.”
Students on the practice field this week.
The young people have also been very active in helping to ensure their participation is a resounding success. For not only have they been putting in the essential practice, they have been raising money for all the other essentials which they will need on the big day.
“It was the same as last year,” added Mr Slane. “The children fundraised, they did a spinathon for materials. The way things are, all schools are the same. Money is very, very challenging, so it means that it’s difficult for us to get equipment. We had to get 40 extra instruments, so we did a spinathon and we did a quiz last Thursday in the golf club in Newry, and we managed to get enough money for equipment and instruments and for our uniform.”
There, however, the school hit a snag – but not insurmountable – on the latter, as the teacher would tell.
“The uniform that we ordered isn’t coming. You never think that things in Iran affect you, but it actually has. The uniform, wherever it was made, it was in transit and it’s in Bahrain at the minute and it’s not going to be here.”
Fortunately, the company the school dealt with has stepped in in the nick of time and ensured the children will still be suitably attired as proud ambassadors for St Paul’s.
For some, the London experience will be a new one. But most of those who travelled to New York will return to parade again.
And the support has been tremendous – from staff, family and friends.
“There’s a few that were A Level students or GCSE and they didn’t come back, but 90% of them will be going,” said Mr Slane.
“ It’s kind of a family affair now. For example, the Wards, from Mountnorris, there’s three girls going, Kerry, Ciara and Aoife, all from the same family. My own two children are going and my two nephews are going too.
“It was always kind of popular, the ethnic percussion in St Paul’s, but I think maybe the fact this past few years that your offering somewhere different for them to go and experience and travel… People do things for different reasons in life and whether they’re doing it for musical enjoyment or whether they’re doing it to see different parts of the world, it’s all the same, but it has boosted it substantially now.
“There’s 10 staff going on the boat and there’s 77 children, and then there’s another five that are flying over. We have a lot of parents and staff that are going as well. A high percentage of parents and family members are going. My mother’s going and my sisters are going. A lot of parents seem to be travelling over in some capacity, either going on the Friday and home on Sunday night. Some are even flying over on Sunday morning and going back Sunday night. So there’s a good support.
“Last year we counted there was 150 that went to New York, including a lot of family and friends, and this year it could be close to 200. When we started, we were looking to fill one bus and then we put applications out and that would have been 45 children and it ended up that it wasn’t that at all. We had 98 children had applied so actually we could have filled an extra bus too.”
To take part in the London parade, the school had to submit an application.
And, of course, they had the perfect American resume after 2025!
As Mr Slane said: “Whenever we did New York last year it opened doors to certain places. We were invited back to New York. We were invited to Vancouver. We were invited to Chicago. The fact that you have to do a written application for London, it was nice to say that we had been to New York last year. It was just an application and then we were told we were successful, officially a few weeks ago, but we had been told unofficially that we were successful so we could plan the trip.
“We’re very happy to be going. There’s a lot of others in the local area that applied either this year or previously and they hadn’t got in, so it’s nice to be able to get now.”
The final practice took place on Wednesday, after which the drums and instruments had to be securely packaged and stowed on the buses before setting off.
Of course, such paraphernalia can take up quick a bit of space which, logistically, raised a few eyebrows among some.
“A lot of the girls were told to travel light because we’re taking so much equipment and a lot of the big girls aren’t happy about that; they’re looking suitcases as opposed to backpacks. I say to the children I’ll be carrying a plastic bag and that’s about it,” the teacher joked.
The main highlight of the weekend will undoubtedly be the parade itself and there certainly is a buzz around Bessbrook ahead of travelling.
“They’re all excited now,” added Mr Slane. “The final letter went out, explaining the ins and outs of what’s expected, what they’re supposed to do.
“There’s children from 11 years of age to 18 years of age going, so it’s a different dynamic. I went a few weeks ago with our business studies department. They’re older children and they were given time to explore to a certain level, parts of New York, whereas when you have an 11-year-old, it’s not going to be the same. It’s going to be very hands-on, but it’s nice to give them an experience too.”
