UKC

.....Fiú an Béarla Muice Madraí

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Erm... Happy St Patrick's Day to you too?

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Bless you! Hay fever again?

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Daoibh

My brother-in-law was instrumental in bringing the Patrick's Day Parade to London! He was Ken Livingstone's main advisor on Irish issues, and suggested the parade - Ken then tasked Redmond with the job of making it happen. I remember coming out from the underground on a beautiful Spring morning and chatting to Ken, he was absolutely gobsmacked at the number who had turned out. Later that day my wife and I were invited on stage to join the band in singing Fields of Athenry - a wonderful day and one that we hold dear as Redmond died in 2009.

In reply to Tony the Blade:

Four dislikes!

Go on then anonymous posters (oh how brave), explain why you dislike the idea of a St Patrick's Day parade, and why Redmond's involvement in this shouldn't be celebrated.

In reply to Tony the Blade:

St Patty's day here..

Everyone wears green as everyone is Irish..

Yet obviously didn't know they guys name..

In reply to Cú Chullain:

Its great to see Somerset's finest having such an impact!

In reply to Dr.S at work:


I always thought he was Welsh

In reply to Tony the Blade:

Sorry Tony, just another international festival amalgamated into our culture from the US, just like the current commercial versions of Halloween, Easter, Black Friday and quite possibly Christmas. Bah Humbug.

In reply to Bobling:

Oh I get that, believe me I do, and Ken also fell into that trap, however I believe his intention was honourable... In August 1999, Ken Livingstone made a pre-election pledge to host a London St. Patrick's Day Parade to rival the grand parade of New York. Credited in part to his advisor Redmond O'Neill who helped draft manifesto policies on ethnic diversity and community relations in London, it was a great gesture to the Irish inside and outside of London. This public gesture of peace was later emphasized when he invited Alex Maskey, the Sinn Féin Mayor of Belfast to walk alongside him in the 2003 London Parade.

Quite ground breaking when you consider the struggles of the previous decades.

Thanks for posting, I'm just adding my biased 2p worth

In reply to Bobling:

Sort of True but for genuine reasons.. True it was probably bigger amongst the diaspora but that was because they missed Ireland and that was there one day they could celebrate it.

The Irish Diaspora are huge, it's a day of celebration for many, not least throughout Ireland.

I think it is overly celebrated here now, and has certainly become commercialized, but you can understand why it took off in the NE USA with the huge Irish communities.

However calling it St Patty's day kind of highlights how it has lost it's basic reason.

In reply to Roadrunner5:




You can thank Guinness, O'Neills and Weatherspoons for that.

In reply to Cú Chullain:

I find it strange that most English people care far more about St Patrick's day than they do about St George's day (not that I'm saying this relates to you).

In reply to Foxache:

It's because St Patrick's day is more fun, and St George wasn't far sighted enough to link his day with the drinking of vast quantities of beer.

In reply to pebbles:


Speak for yourself !

In reply to Cú Chullain:

And 25 years in Scotland I never saw a single St Andrew's Day parade.

Mind you, that might just be Kilmarnock.

In reply to Roadrunner5:



I happened to be in a bar in California on this day a couple of years ago and, knowing I was a Brit, my companions were mystified that I wasn't dressed entirely in green. They were astounded that I didn't even realise it was St Patrick's day.

I only managed to buy a drink because, by chance, my trainers had a green flash on them.

In reply to Dave Garnett:

Yeah I went to the local irish bar on the way home last night.. everyone was in green. I wasn't. They kept asking me was I irish as I have an accent.. I should have said yes for a few free pints..