St Patrick’s Day - Taoiseach should not participate

There are nearly as many legends around St Patrick’s Day as there are around the man himself.

Not all of them show us in a good light and in at least one instance — New York’s parade ban on gays — it seems as if the homophobia expressed comes straight from the fifth century when the Welsh swineherd was sent across St George’s Channel to save the Irish from the paganism we so happily wallowed in.

That bizarre veto, which surely would not be allowed stand if it focussed on any other minority, has inevitably provoked a negative response from the city’s mayor Bill de Blasio who has decided to boycott the event.

The 45 seconds his protest will generate on national television right across America and probably further afield will undo much of the day’s positive coverage of all things Irish. That negative reaction may be exacerbated by the expected participation of Taoiseach Enda Kenny. It must be assumed that Mr Kenny would not attend any event in Ireland where a person is excluded because of their sexuality, so it is difficult to understand how crossing the Atlantic can make such bigotry acceptable. There is still time for Mr Kenny, as his cabinet colleague Joan Burton has already done, to do the right thing and decline the invitation. If those who organise the New York parade choose to be offended by such a decision then they have only their own world view to blame. There will be many, many more people, both American and Irish, who would welcome and support such an obvious stand against intolerance.

It is unfortunate too that this side issue might undo much of the good work cabinet members, Enterprise Ireland and the tens of thousands of unofficial cultural and sporting ambassadors will do right around the world next Monday week. It is unfortunate too that the efforts of politicians of all hues to promote Ireland by using St Patrick’s Day to open doors by visiting world capitals are attacked by many who should know better. These visits offer an opportunity that cannot be ignored to promote this country and to suggest otherwise is deeply cynical and very unhelpful.

Another of the St Patrick’s Day myths is that the country will grind to a halt as we all drown the shamrock several times to ensure that it is indeed drowned. Drinks’ companies use this opportunity as cynically as they use any other occasion to promote their products and the culture they need to succeed, but the reality is that the vast majority of Irish people will dampen rather than drown the shamrock. Many tens of thousands may not even do that. Some will of course drink to excess, but that may have more to do with age rather than any national tendency towards a day of lemming-like pub crawling.

Just as it is difficult to separate myth from something that passes for reality with St Patrick it is not always easy to separate the top-o’-the-mornin’ buffoonery from the reality of how we celebrate out national day. It is certain though that we should celebrate it, but maybe not by supporting Putinesque exclusions or by drinking Lough Erin dry.