Tag Archives: St Patrick’s Day

“I’ll tell you what makes me angry – lefty crap,” he thunders in response. Like? “Well, like spending £20,000 on a dinner at the Dorchester for Sinn Fein!”

(Boris Johnson interviewed by Jemima Khan in the New Statesman, 9 Feb, 2012)

 

In a letter released yesterday, Mr Johnson, who has fallen behind in the polls after months during which he enjoyed a comfortable lead, apologised for the New Statesman row, but claimed the issue had been exploited to suggest he had anti-Irish feelings.

“There has been real and admirable progress in the fight against any lingering anti-Irish sentiment in London and it is deeply upsetting that people have alleged that I harbour such feelings,” he told Catherina Casey, who chairs the city’s St Patrick’s Day Advisory Forum.

The issue of Mr Johnson’s relationship with London’s Irish has emerged again this week, days before the City Hall-funded St Patrick Day’s parade to Trafalgar Square, as it emerged that the mayor, yet again, is not planning to attend.

Johnson Apologises To London Irish For St Patrick’s Day Slur (Mark Hennessy, Irish Times)

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” Defying famine, poverty, and discrimination, these sons and daughters of Erin demonstrated extraordinary strength and unshakable faith as they gave their all to help build an America worthy of the journey they and so many others have taken. During Irish-American Heritage Month, we recall their legacy of hard work and perseverance, and we carry forward that singular dedication to forging a more prosperous future for all Americans.

Now, therefore, I, Barack Obama, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 2012 as Irish-American Heritage Month. I call upon all Americans to observe this month by celebrating the contributions of Irish Americans to our Nation.”

And November is now officially ‘Irish-America Vote-For-Me’ Month.

Barack Obama Officially Launches Irish American Heritage Month, March 2012 (Bernie Malone, irish Central)

(Mark Stedman/Photocall ireland)

Announcing his investiture as Grand Marshall of the St Patrick’s Day Parade this morning, John Giles returned to his birthplace, Ormond Square, Smithfield, Dublin, and met the locals including, top pic from left: Kay Tyrrell, Catherine Reilly, Giles, Paddy Reilly, Robert O’Toole and his granddaughter Caoimhe O’Toole; pic 2 and 3, Jamie Kelly; pic 5: Lucy (right) and Pia Madden and, bottom pic, Christy Maher.

Earlier: Finally

(Sam Boal/Photocall Ireland)