This morning.
The Clarence Hotel, Dublin
Comedians Deirdre O’Kane and Jason Byrne are officially named as St. Patrick’s Festival Parade Grand Marshals expected to wave their way – perhaps amusingly-hatted – across the capital on Sunday, March 17.
Sam Boal/RollingNews
[The London St Patrick’s Day line-up]
Room for everyone.
Liggy writes:
“Close up of the London 2014 Patrick’s parade line-up. Note the walkers between the London Irish women and the Neighbourhood watch caterpillar.It’s only the London-Irish gay and transgender peeps. Great lads! Stuff your silly parade and bigotry New York!”
Earlier: Dear Enda
[Scene from the St Patrick’s Day parade in Dublin last year]
Stop weeping.
Vanessa Gildea, of Coco Television, writes:
We are looking for Irish people around the world to send a “Happy St. Patrick’s Day” video message back home to be included in this year’s coverage of the St Patrick’s Festival Parade shown on RTÉ One. All you need to do is record yourself on a mobile phone, digital camera or any video device and send to parade2014@cocotelevision.ie
To give us a sense of where you are in the world, choose a backdrop that shows off the location e.g the Taj Mahal, Ayers Rock, Golden Gate Bridge or the beach in Thailand
Please note, however…
Your clip cannot have any association with alcohol.
Your message must not exceed 8 seconds in duration. Example of message: “Hello to everyone back home in Ireland, Happy St. Patrick’s day from New York”. The deadline for submissions is Saturday, March 15 2014.
Right so.
Send the rambling, boozy ones to us.
Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland
[Cardinal Timothy Dolan]
They see him Dolan.
Etc.
Maureen O‘Dowd writes:
The largest parade in the Western world, as Niall O’Dowd, the founder of IrishCentral and The Irish Voice, calls it, is no longer run by the A.O.H [Ancient Order of Hibernians]., but by the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, seven volunteers in the Bronx…
But?
…the power behind the parade is Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
Not DOLAN!
Cardinal Dolan is essentially the arbiter,” O’Dowd says. “Every grand marshal is checked with him. The parade chairman always seeks the approval of the cardinal for who marches in the parade.” O’Dowd concedes that the organisers are “equal opportunity offenders. They also used to refuse to allow kids in wheelchairs into the parade.
“The big issue they face today is: Are they Irish or are they Catholic? If it was just an Irish parade, these people would have the power to let gays march. But the real power is with the Catholic Church.”
Alternatively?
…..a special guest at the St. Patrick’s Day “parade for all” in Queens — which, unlike Manhattan, allows gay marchers to carry banners and signs — will be renowned Dublin drag queen Panti Bliss, whose real name is Rory O’Neill. He told me that in the “glittery, nutty” Dublin parade, “there’s no problem being absolutely as gay as anyone wants..a heterosexual parade seems to me an organised walk in the traffic lane.”
Yay.
Previously: Secret Behind Who Really Runs The NYC St Patrick’s Day Parade (Niall O’Dowd, Irish Central)
Parade Marches Backward (Maureen Dowd, New York Times)
Meanwhile:
[Newly-elected new York Mayor Bill de Blasio]
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has confirmed he will boycott the city’s St Patrick’s Day parade due to the effective exclusion of the LGBT community from the event.
He is the first mayor in over 20 years to do so.
“I simply disagree with the organisers of that parade in their exclusion of some individuals in this city,” he said. He stopped short of barring city employees [police and fire officers] from marching in uniform, disappointing many LGBT advocacy groups.
De Blasio to Skip St. Patrick’s Day Parade; Cites Exclusion of Gay Groups (New York Times)
New York Mayor to boycott St Patrick’s Day parade over LGBT exclusion (RTE)
Previously: The New York St Patrick’s Day Parade Guidelines
(HuffPo)
Taking the rock out of the shamrock.
And an ‘L’ out of Marshall.
Nicky Byrne with Emily Shelton and Joseph Jennings and a vintage Citroen on O’Connell Street, Dublin, this morning.
Mr Byrne has been appointed Grand Marshall of the St Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin on March 17.
Grand so.
UPDATE: Marshal is spelt correctly on Nicky’s shirt. Apologies.
(Sam Boal/Photocall ireland)
