A Green Day
What it means to be Irish

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09:28Good morning and welcome to the Saint Patrick’s Day liveblog from the Irish Times offices on Tara St in Dublin. If you’re planning to attend one of the many parades around Ireland today, wrap up warm and put on your waterproofs. It’s fairly typical March 17th weather out there this morning – damp, grey and a bit on the cold side – but goosebumps are a all part of the Irish national day experience.
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09:34
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09:36The tradition of celebrating Ireland's national saint's day with parades didn't start in Ireland. There have been parades in Boston and New York since the 18th century, organised first by Protestant Irish emigrants but then taken over and greatly expanded by the huge waves of Catholic migrants who arrived from the 1840s onward. By contrast, in the early years of independence, the Irish state saw no need for a parade, restricting itself to a celebratory Mass and a march past by the Army. After the second World War, the day was reserved for an industrial pageant "showcasing Irish industry and agriculture".
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09:47So this is a day devoted more to Irish people around the world than Irish people in Ireland. And with emigration rising again, the experience of leaving and being remains at the heart of our national identity.
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09:51Here's a really good short film, released online this week, about a “young man on the brink of emigration, but as he races through the streets of Dublin he comes to realise the spirit he is leaving behind”. Made by Souljacker, the film was directed by James Stacey, produced by Seán Smith and scripted by Matthew Darragh and James Stacey, with an original score by Rónán Ó Snodaigh of Kíla.
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09:51
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09:57
For the day that's in it...The Book of Kells is free to download on iPad today.itun.es/ie/uB2hI.i #PaddysDay
— fyi. (@3efyi) March 17, 2013 -
10:10Padraig Collins reports from Sidney that 'Australia’s prime minister Julia Gillard told the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne that she was “contemplating naming myself Taoiseach Gillard for a day ... I reckon that’d be fun.
Ms Gillard, who was born in Wales, said the Irish should “never forget that St Paddy’s Day is actually all about a Taff – someone from Wales”.' -
10:18We'd love to post your Twitter pics here on the @IrishTimes site if you're going to a parade today. Just put @hlinehan in your tweet and I'll keep an eye out for them
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10:28Some of us of a certain vintage will fondly remember the bleakness of the Dublin parades in the 1980s. "Commercial floats" - flatbed lorries dressed up with bad ads for security companies - crawling through horizontal sleet as the sullen populace shivered in the cold. But hark! Somewhere in this teenage wasteland four messiahs were waiting to take us to a promised land of prosperity, for a while anywhere... This 1982 Saint Patrick's Day message from U2 to MTV is ropy at the start (who knew VHS would have such a short shelf life?), but stick with it for some fine shots of Dublin's docklands (now ruined, alas, by apartments, restaurants and other unnecessary stuff. Oh, what we've lost...)
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10:28
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10:35
Send your #paddysday parade twitpics to @hlinehanand we'll put the best up onb irishtimes.com. #saintpatricksday
— Hugh Linehan (@hlinehan) March 17, 2013 -
10:38
The Talk of the Irish newyorker.com/online/blogs/c??? via @newyorker
— Hugh Linehan (@hlinehan) March 17, 2013 -
10:41
Some really imaginitive floats this year #spf13 twitter.com/darraghdoyle/s???
— Darragh Doyle (@darraghdoyle) March 17, 2013 -
10:49Impressive leprechaun in Chicago yesterday
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10:53
@hugobeb @shanehegarty Hi Hugo. We are linking to tweets, not publishing, copying, storing. Fee no more applicable than retweet or Storify
— Hugh Linehan (@hlinehan) March 17, 2013 -
10:53
@hlinehan Barry Patton with his daughter Enjoying the festivities in Athboy co Meath. twitter.com/celinegovern/s???
— Celine Govern (@celinegovern) March 17, 2013 -
10:54
@hlinehan Bunclody. twitter.com/williewhite/st???
— Willie White (@williewhite) March 17, 2013 -
11:02By the way, if you're reading this in the @IrishTimes Apple or Android apps, you'll be missing some of the glorious, multimedia experience. Why not check out the responsive design versionthoughb your browser here, and then you can enjoy this first entry in our Worst Irish Film Accents Ever series.
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11:02
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11:03
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11:05
@eoinpurcell Not quite sure. We are planning to mix up the schedule a bit. But we also have tech probs which may be partly responsible.
— Hugh Linehan (@hlinehan) March 17, 2013 -
11:05
@hlinehan the view of the Sydney parade passing Town Hall this afternoon. #stpatsoz twitter.com/IrishChamber/s???
— IrishChamber (@IrishChamber) March 17, 2013 -
11:07
@hugobeb @shanehegarty Don't forget the glory...
— Hugh Linehan (@hlinehan) March 17, 2013 -
11:14On a more serious matter, surfing the Twitter machine over the last couple of hours, one can't ignore the number of people who plan to make this a day of extreme inebriation.
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11:16Donald Clarke's piece on Irish national steretyping here observes that: 'Saint Patrick’s Day is really about vomiting into the gutter while wearing a fake orange beard and a tricoloured foam-rubber hat. For all our shiny buildings and Broadway-annihilating theatre pieces, we are still dab hands at drinking ourselves into blind insensibility. In recent years, however, we have tended to do more of our boozing in the privacy of home. Not on March 17th. The patron saint seems to encourage a particularly unhinged school of old-school idiotic drinking.'
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11:18
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11:31
Luas is rammed #stpatricksday #gogreen #LoveDublin @hlinehan @irishtimes twitter.com/SteveVaughan10???
— Steve Vaughan (@SteveVaughan10) March 17, 2013 -
11:34If you're reading this overseas, please do check out Generation Emigration, our forum for Irish people living around the world.
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11:46
Maidin mhaith from the International Space Station! Happy Saint Patrick's Day to the Irish all around the globe. Good morning!
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) March 17, 2013 -
11:46
Wearing the green - Happy St. Patrick's Day from the International Space Station! twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/???
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) March 17, 2013 -
11:46
Tralee, Ireland, nestled in the first green we see after soaring across the Atlantic. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/???
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) March 17, 2013 -
11:48I have a feeling a certain astronaut will be Grand Marshalling a St Patrick's Day parade or two in years to come...
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11:53Second entry in the Worst Irish Film Accents Ever series....
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11:53
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12:13OK, time to remember the actual story of St Patrick. Roll it there Colette...
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12:13
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12:19So, with the Dublin parade about to start, it's still a cold, grey, wet day in Dublin, but a little better in the south and west.
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12:21
Michael D's arrived! Let's get this party started #StPatricksDay
— Rosemary Mac Cabe (@RosemaryMacCabe) March 17, 2013 -
12:22
I want to be in the Finglas Marching Band! #StPatricksDay
— Rosemary Mac Cabe (@RosemaryMacCabe) March 17, 2013 -
12:24And we're off, nearly... Des Cahill seems to be blocking O'Connel St for the moment. We might ave to ask our correspondent, Rosemary MacCabe, to clear him away.
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12:26
Reporting in the rain with a notebook sucks, let me tell you
— Rosita Boland (@RositaBoland) March 17, 2013 -
12:37
#StPatricksDay Happy St. Patrick's Day! CNN: Fan Facts about St. Patrick's Day and Traditions. Read More:... fb.me/1BaGG8gKL
— Selective Retreats (@SRVillas) March 17, 2013 -
12:42President Higgins on RTE wishes a happy St Patrick's Day to Irish people all over thw world.
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12:43Here comes the Lord Mayor, Naoise O Muiri, in that ridiculously fancy coach that comes with the job. He should really use it every day.
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12:45
More Americans now, the Burlington Teen Tour Band. More than 140 members Nd some nifty baton twirling #StPatricksDaytwitpic.com/cc48s2
— Rosemary Mac Cabe (@RosemaryMacCabe) March 17, 2013 -
12:45
Steampunk is once again the theme of the St Patrick's Day parade. That's three years running. twitter.com/punkyscudmonke???
— Paul Duane (@punkyscudmonkey) March 17, 2013 -
12:45
Now it's Nicky Byrne, "singer/songwriter, broadcaster and TV star" #StPatricksDaytwitpic.com/cc48jh
— Rosemary Mac Cabe (@RosemaryMacCabe) March 17, 2013 -
12:46
Meanwhile, it's freezing in Dublin town. And we can talk again on media bus, since tv has stopped filming. A Gathering channel. Who knew?
— Rosita Boland (@RositaBoland) March 17, 2013 -
12:49By the way, if you're looking for it you can get the St Patrick’s Day parade video livestream n on youtube.com/rte
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12:52
This parade is such a wonderful opportunity for Ireland to showcase Des Cahill to the world.
— Colm Tobin (@colmtobin) March 17, 2013 -
12:54
Hey, Bonanza's on TG4...sure beats Nikki from Boyzone being interviewed on RTE1 #parade
— Jill Kerby (@JillKerby) March 17, 2013 -
12:56Nice to see everybody's enjoying that RTE coverage.
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12:59I'm seeing a Giant Door coming down O'Connel Street. There's a complex concept at work here, I think, but I'm failing to grasp it. Again.
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12:59
The Duchess of Cambridge gets her heel stuck in a drain attending St. Patrick's Day Parade huff.to/ZudvpN twitter.com/HuffPostUKPics???
— HuffPostUK Pic Desk (@HuffPostUKPics) March 17, 2013 -
13:01
Lady Gaga played by a marching band actually kind of works #stpatricksday
— Blathnaid Healy (@blathnaidhealy) March 17, 2013 -
13:03
In honour of St. Patrick's Day astronaut Chris Hadfield has recorded his version of 'Danny Boy' from space! bit.ly/WsFHvz
— WorldIrish (@worldirish) March 17, 2013 -
13:05
Am in the middle of the parade with our kids. Atmosphere is brilliant #paddysday
— Anna Rodgers (@AnnaRodgersDocs) March 17, 2013 -
13:11Don't want to, er, rain on the parade, but have to say this has all been a bit glum so far. Glad I'm watching ffrom the comfort of the Irish Times newsroom, with feet up on a warm stove.
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13:12
Let us remember all those patriots who fought and died for Ireland so grown men can parade down O' Connell Street dressed as Austin Powers.
— Colm Tobin (@colmtobin) March 17, 2013 -
13:14All very old school - heavy on the majorettes, light on the drug-induced, flamenco-dancing technicoloured giant insects
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13:15
Think @cmdr_hadfield should be on a @tourismireland1 retainer
— Suzy Byrne (@suzybie) March 17, 2013 -
13:15
Taoiseach arriving at St Patrick's Day mass at Breezy Point in NY twitter.com/SiCarswell/sta???
— Simon Carswell (@SiCarswell) March 17, 2013 -
13:16
HmmFiona from Cyprus on #thisweekrte about how safe are your deposits. ..good job everyone's partying. ...
— brian lucey (@brianmlucey) March 17, 2013 -
13:17Sorry about that last Tweet of Doom from Brian Lucey, but there ARE a lot of ATMs along the parade route. Just saying...
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13:19Maggie, the largest rag doll in the world. 7.7m tall. The height of two double-decker buses. Des Cahill quote: 'Maggie has very long legs. I suppose you'd expect that in a seven-metre doll'.
Moving swiftly along... -
13:20More majorettes.
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13:21
Experience the icy freezingness of the #spf13 by watching the tellywith the hairdryerturned on full blast and set to Cold
— Annie West (@anniewestdotcom) March 17, 2013 -
13:25
The little leprechaun and the Canadian. That was hilarious. #spf13
— Corrina Kavanagh (@Corrina_K) March 17, 2013 -
13:26
This guy's job? Cleaning up after the horses on the parade. #spf13 twitter.com/darraghdoyle/s???
— Darragh Doyle (@darraghdoyle) March 17, 2013 -
13:28
RT @lauriegnyt: Pope Francis greets parishioners at door 1 by 1 after Mass, like a simple parish priest, but freaking out security detail.
— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) March 17, 2013 -
13:29So Pope Francis has the gift of bilocation. Useful.
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13:31
Clear anomalies in the new property tax have been highlighted at St Patricks day parade in Longford @rtenews twitter.com/ciaranmullooly???
— Ciaran Mullooly (@ciaranmullooly) March 17, 2013 -
13:32
Gardai taking unopened booze off people on the luas #policestate #happypaddysday @thejournal_ie @broadsheet_ie
— Aine Rosemary (@ainerosemary) March 17, 2013 -
13:33
Happy St Patricks Day!!Longing for Ireland - to be back with my aunts, cousins and great friends
— mia farrow (@MiaFarrow) March 17, 2013 -
13:36Quite a jolly steampunk show from Inishowen in Co Donegal there. Then another high school marching band, this time from Cedar Rapids. The exces baggage charges for these guys must be horrendous.
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13:37Belfast Youth Circus now. Good name for a band.
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13:38
Trying to watch the St. Patricks Day Parade on @rteplayer from Sydney. Looks wet!!
— Julie O'Neill (@julieon) March 17, 2013 -
13:46Ray Duffy Bono looks great as St Patrick
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13:47Giant suitcaes wheeling down Westmoreland St, followed by assorted shirts and socks. That's more like it.
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13:48Followed by the biggest American marching band in the parade - 331 members. That would bring a tear to an Aer Lingus executive's eye.
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13:49
Happy St. Patrick's Day. The correct way to respond to someone saying "Top of the morning to you" is "and the rest of the day to you!"
— Joseph Uranowski (@Uranowski) March 17, 2013 -
13:50Actually, Joseph.. oh, forget it.
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13:59
Well I banished all the wombats from Ireland. Take that Saint Patrick.
— Allan Cavanagh (@AllanCavanagh) March 17, 2013 -
14:07There was something about today's parade that brought back memories of the old time, when a fire engine, or a car with go-faster stripes was the height of excitement. Maybe it really is time for us all to get back to this sort of thing.
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14:07
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14:08
TV3 13:50 Float with Vincent Browne: On the float Declan Ganley, Simon Coveney and Fionn??n Sheahan discus ???Patty???s Day or Paddy???s Day????
— Not The RT?? Guide (@YourRTEGuide) March 17, 2013 -
14:10
Be part of it @gatheringdublin - great atmosphere on O'Connell bridge #stpatricksday #gogreen #LoveDublin @hlinehan twitter.com/SteveVaughan10???
— Steve Vaughan (@SteveVaughan10) March 17, 2013 -
14:11
O'Connell statue going green. Great atmosphere in Dublin. #stpatricksday #LoveDublin @beginningindub @hlinehan #green twitter.com/SteveVaughan10???
— Steve Vaughan (@SteveVaughan10) March 17, 2013 -
14:21
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14:32Mark Haha all it means - There is another reason to get pissed , hammered and vomit on Dublin streets
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14:39Thanks for that, Mark. Speak for yourself. I'm off home for a nice cup of tea. Thanks to the tweeters for the pics and the observations. The star of today's show was undoubtedly Chris Hadfield. Commander, there'll always be a welcome for you in the greatest little country in the world. Slan agus beannacht.
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14:41
There's a big jumper #spf13 twitter.com/darraghdoyle/s???
— Darragh Doyle (@darraghdoyle) March 17, 2013