Green beer makes them angry · 17 March 06
In contrast to the rest of the world — when “Kiss me, I’m Irish” hats are worn by shamrock shaking Paddies drinking Guinness dyed an atrocious green — the rituals attached to St Patrick seem to become a greater source of embarrassment in his own land with every passing year.
Trevor Sergeant, the leader of the Green Party, is exasperated that the Irish parliament has gone into recess for almost a week because of the absence of so many of its members. 29 of its members travelled to 22 countries across 5 continents for St Patrick’s Day. Bertie Ahern, the Taoiseach, is in Washington with four Cabinet colleagues to mark the daywith President Bush.
Meanwhile, in Dublin, the start of five days of St Patrick’s Day festivities was marked by high security levels, calls for bans on selling alcohol and warnings of trouble on the streets.
Organisers of the Dublin St Patrick’s Day parade estimate that 700,000 may turn out to watch. The Irish Times said this week that the afternoon of March 17, once the parade has finished, is “the most depressing and dangerous” day of the year in Ireland.
Over 700 people were arrested across the country for public order offences on St Patrick’s Day last year, more than double the number from 2004.
Me, I think I am going to celebrate my 1/4 Irish heritage by having a nice quiet beer somewhere and keeping myself out of the hospital.
[ File under: News & Polictics ]