Holiday hoodlums are no match for some of our political gurriers

ON THE first St Patrick’s Day while at university in Texas in 1964, I was interviewed by the local daily newspaper as I was the only person from Ireland among more than 15,000 students.

They seemed surprised to hear that St Patrick’s Day was no big deal in Ireland back then, with just a few small parades around the country.

The parade in New York was a big thing throughout the US and many Irish people who witnessed it said they were ashamed at the carry-on of those who were celebrating their supposed Irishness. Some of people who saw what happened at Finglas in Dublin on this St Patrick’s Day seemed to feel the same way.