Speaker Edwin Poots led an event at Stormont on Tuesday to launch Seachtain na Gaeilge, an Irish language celebration. DUP ministers and nationalist politicians attended alongside Irish language community leaders. Children from Scoil na Seolta, an Irish medium school in East Belfast, took part.

Poots encouraged people to celebrate a language spoken in the region for over 2,000 years.

St Patrick spent much of his time in Ulster, where his remains are buried. He was an immigrant and Irish speaker who preached against the druidic system dominant at the time.

Belfast hosts St Patrick's Day events including the SPAR Craic 10K with over 6,000 runners, a music festival at Cathedral Square featuring a pipe band, a céilí at the MAC, a family parade and a trad trail with 140 sessions organised by Féile.