High insurance sees cancellation of St Patrick's day parades

St Patrick, acclaimed for driving snakes out of Ireland before being adopted as the country’s national saint, is facing a crisis this year as the time approaches for his annual celebration.

Already two of the scores of parades staged throughout the length and breadth of Ireland each year to mark the saint’s day on March 17 have had to be abandoned.

The reason has nothing to do with snakes or any other kind of serpents – it’s down to the modern-day scourge of high insurance costs.

Last week Ennis, in Co Clare, became the second town to call off the long-standing traditional procession through its narrow streets after being confronted by either potentially crippling insurance premium rates to cover public liability – or the prospect of being unable to obtain any cover at all.

In the case of Ennis, the local town council reluctantly called off the parade when their insurers made it clear that cover was barely possible.

A few weeks ago, the authorities in Abbeyfeale, in Co Limerick, were forced into a similar decision when the insurance companies made it clear that their premium would leap by in excess of 400% this year if they wanted full public liability cover.

With a little more than two weeks to go before partying for St Paddy gets under way – linked events can go on for days – the prospect of more towns having to opt out in the future is not being ruled out.

It is all down to what insurance companies have begun to call the “Irish factor“.

The insurers say that big courtroom awards on claims in Ireland in recent years have left them with little choice but to hike premiums to meet the level of payments they are having to make.

One estimate is that two years ago, the insurance sector lost some €75m on liability cover in Ireland – and there is reckoned to have been no sign of an improvement since then, according to the trade.

“We are operating in a hostile commercial environment,” was how a representative of the Irish Insurance Federation put it, adding: “and things are not likely to get any better until the amount approved in awards – not to mention legal costs – are looked at.”

All of which, of course, does not help the organisers of the St Patrick’s Day events.

In Ennis, Mayor Peter Considine said: “It’s all very disappointing. We had lined up the best-ever St Patrick’s parade this year.”

“We can’t expect individual groups to pay their own insurance – most of them could not afford it for just a few hours, anyway.”

Ennis council member Frank Neylon commented: “I would have fears that massive insurance costs could cancel parades organised by local authorities across the country.”

A spokeswoman for the council reported: “We have tried every avenue possible to stage the parade, but it just is not possible.”