You don't have to be Irish to enjoy St Paddy's. It's all about celebrating the good things in life. All of the cod-Irish stuff can be a bit cheesy, but you might as well pull out the stops. Theme your party in green — green tablecloths and tableware, shamrock-shaped beer mats, and festoon the walls with green and orange bunting. If you can get hold of an Irish flag, display this in pride of place. Place pots of gold around the room filled with gold foil-wrapped sweets (toffees are good) or better still, chocolate coins. Make sure you appoint a leprechaun to guard each one.

The Irish tradition is to go to church on St Patrick's Day, but if you don’t want all your guests turning up in their Sunday best, sombre suits and all, then a bit of guidance as to appropriate attire for your party is probably wise. Encourage your guests to wear green, or at least to wear a shamrock pin badge. Ireland football or rugby shirts would be a good. Clothing should be cool and comfortable, as Irish dancing requires energy and enthusiasm — and good dancing shoes!

If you wanted to hold a fancy dress party, then choose a Leprechaun theme. Traditionally, leprechauns have beards and wear a green coat and hat. They are also around two feet tall, but that might be more difficult for your guests to achieve.

Organise an Irish ceili, complete with traditional Irish music and dancing. There are plenty of live Irish bands around, and if you make sure you find an experienced caller to guide everyone through the steps, even the least Irish of your friends won't be able to resist jigging and reeling with the best of them (especially once a few pints of Guinness have gone down).

In keeping with the Irish tradition of storytelling, ask each guest to enthral fellow partygoers with a tale, the taller the better, with prizes for the best story.

For those who wish neither to dance nor tell stories, invite along a henna tattoo artist to produce traditional Celtic tattoos for your guests. They are entirely temporary, so no regrets the morning after when they wake up to find a giant leprechaun tattooed on their forearm.

Traditional Irish fare is substantial and largely potato-based. Serve up a hearty Irish stew, which can be prepared in advance, and consists of potatoes, vegetables and meatballs in delicious gravy.

Alternatively jacket spuds with a variety of fillings are a cheap, satisfying and easy way to fill your guests' tummies.

Guinness is an essential part of any St Patrick's Day party, so have plenty of the black stuff available. Also have some Irish whiskey (not Scotch) on hand, and for the ladies (and those with a sweet tooth) some Irish crème liqueur. Many true Irishmen would frown on the idea of adulterating the black stuff in any way, however to encourage people to give it a go, try offering "Black Velvet" cocktails, which consists of Guinness and sparkling white wine, drunk from a champagne flute. Sounds disgusting? Give it a try and find out for yourself!

1.	Danny Boy / Elsie Griffin
2.	Sunday Bloody Sunday / U2
3.	The Boys Are Back in Town / Thin Lizzy
4.	Breathless / The Corrs
5.	Whiskey on a Sunday / The Irish Rovers
6.	Dirty Old Town / The Pogues
7.	The Emperor's New Clothes / Sinéad O'Connor
8.	Flying Without Wings / Westlife
9.	Orinoco Flow / Enya
10.	Vertigo / U2

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