Irish eyes were certainly smiling as we headed to Trafalgar Square for St Patrick's Day on Sunday, helped no doubt by the glorious day and the thousands of gallons of 'black gold' that was served in the bars.

This yearly festival gives Londoners and tourists an opportunity to join in with the Irish community to share Ireland's cultural heritage; the festival and parade are open to everyone and you don't have to be Irish to be there because by the end of it you'll certainly feel like you are – the Irish certainly know how to throw a party!

The atmosphere along Whitehall was electric, families having fun seeing the sights of London and stopping to watch the changing of the guards as they made their way to Trafalgar Square. Whitehall and Trafalgar Square were transformed into a sea of green, white and orange and that set the scene really for the rest of the day; wherever you went in London on Sunday afternoon you were bound to fall upon a group of Irish people throwing their own impromptu parties and welcoming anyone who wanted to join them.

The London 2012 stand was wonderfully placed, in full view of the big screen, and I arrived just in time to be wowed by the music of Irish Mist, a duo playing traditional folk music. With spirits lifted there really was no time to think because we were certainly kept on our toes with demand for literature and information on the London 2012 Games.

I spent most of my time speaking with the children and thoroughly enjoyed myself; it was amazing to hear about the projects they were doing at school and how they enjoyed having such a spotlight on sport in the capital. There is a huge commitment by schools to promote the Olympic and Paralympic values and the children were really animated and wanted to talk and share what they were doing.



It was also a pleasure to meet and work with Alex, one of our Young Ambassadors who submitted the London 2012 bid to the International Olympic Committee in Singapore in 2005, his enthusiasm is infectious, it's really fantastic to know we have young people like him flying the flag for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games in his schools and community.

Requests for information on volunteering and jobs were high, and I had a really interesting conversation with a man who had worked for two years making the supporting steelwork frames for the stadia. It was great when he saw a picture of some of the work he had been doing and listen to the pride in his voice as he showed his family what he had helped to build.