Saint Patrick's Day have been cross-community St Patrick's Day parades in towns throughout Northern Ireland, which have attracted thousands of spectators. In the mid-1990s the government of the Republic of Ireland began a campaign to use St Patrick's Day to showcase Ireland and its culture. The government set up a group called St Patrick's Festival, with the aims: The first St Patrick's Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long; more than 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade. Overall 2009's five-day
CCGS Louis S. St-Laurent Arctic to map the undersea continental shelf. The two vessels were slowed by thick ice conditions. At 1:30 a.m. on 2 April 2015, "Louis S. St-Laurent", arrived near Burgeo, Newfoundland and Labrador to take the damaged Canadian Coast Guard vessel under tow. "Ann Harvey", which had run aground near Burgeo, was already being towed by the lifeboat CCGS "W.G. George" when the icebreaker arrived. "Louis S. St-Laurent" took over the tow and brought "Ann Harvery" into Connoire Bay where Royal Canadian Navy divers could inspect the ship. In 2016 "Louis S. St-Laurent" was deployed to the Arctic carrying an international