Lithuanian musicians, drum-beating Punjabis and West African dancers used Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day parade on Saturday to celebrate their place in a booming Ireland that has become a land of immigrants. One man dressed as St. Patrick in papal hat and sunglasses did the samba, while another float nearby featured “Miss Panty,” Dublin’s premier drag queen.
Dublin’s freewheeling parade drew a half-million spectators and included Christine Quinn, the first openly gay leader of the New York City Council. Quinn is boycotting the more conservative New York parade because the organizers refuse to let gay and lesbian groups march.
This year, she accepted an Irish government invitation to be part of the Dublin City Council contingent.
“The fact I’m here in Dublin and able to march and participate in inclusive events should send a message of how backwards the New York parade is,” said Quinn.
“Nowadays there’s far more color in the parade. It’s great to see all our new Irish from across the world dressed up in green,” said Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who normally spends St. Patrick’s Day in the United States but returned overnight after visiting President Bush in the White House.
Bravo!
Ain’t it a hoot how the Catholics in Ireland are (at least on this issue…) less adamant about imposing their prejudice on everyone else than the ones over here?
Don’t know why, but the notion of Dublin having a “premier drag queen” pretzels my brain. Who determines these things? Is it an elective office? If so, who gets to vote and how long does the campaign last?
Good for Dublin, though. The idea of an increasingly cosmopolitan Ireland after all those decades of violence – that’s just very cool.
Isn’t it refreshing to see not everyone is as uptight as Americans? Who would have thought that a day with a religious name could have other meanings associated with it. I wonder if the Irish do anything else besides celebrate the supposed birth of Jesus on Christmas, or his resurrection on Easter.
But, why is Irish poetry so sad? I mean, there seems to be a dreadful stoic bleakness in the overt characterization by the Irish intellectual. Perhaps now, Ireland is exploring happiness? Do we need an American model of festiveness to follow?
Uh, Mardi Gras, anyone?
More Irish in NYC, anyway.