EVERYONE wants to be Irish on St Patrick's Day.

And at O'Duinn's Irish Pub in Proserpine you can be just that this Friday and Sunday, when the celebrations will run.

For the last 11 years, the Dunne family has been pulling out all the stops to bring the best of the emerald isle to town on St Patrick's Day and this year will be no different.

Meghan Dunne said the festivities would kick off at about 6pm on Friday, continuing from 10am on Sunday and running until late.

On both days entertainment will be courtesy of local band Goodfellas and the Claddagh School of Irish Dance from Mackay.

Band frontman Paul Mooney said they had even added a fiddle player to the mix for that extra special Irish touch.

"And we try to do a big range of music to please everyone,” he said.

The dance school's philosophy meanwhile, is based around the symbols of the Claddagh - love, friendship and loyalty - with a healthy dose of fun thrown in.

Meghan Dunne said fun was one of the central themes to all the St Patrick's Day celebrations she could remember being a part of at the pub.

"It's always packed and everyone's so happy,” she said.

Ms Dunne has been involved in organising St Patrick's Day at O'Duinn's since 2010-11 and said there was a lot of behind the scenes work that went into making the celebrations a success.

"There's the give-aways, the menus, the band and all the decorations - we re-organise all the furniture and set up a dance-floor - there's a lot of preparation,” she said.

"And then on the night it's like New Year's Eve, but it's Paddy's Day - it's the same thing.”

In terms of the menus, Ms Dunne said O'Duinn's would be serving freshly baked soda bread along with Irish dishes such as home-made Guinness and beef stew, fish in Kilkenny batter and locally produced Irish pork sausages with mash.

And there's even something for the younger generations to enjoy with face painting thrown in on Sunday.

Ms Dunne said another great reason to spend St Patrick's Day in Proserpine was the local flavour the event at O'Duinn's had.

"People should come and support a local band, local (region) dancers from Mackay and a local pub,” she said.

"And why wouldn't you?

"We're all Irish, we know how to throw a St Paddy's Day.”