St Patrick’s Day revellers paint the town green and celebrate all things Irish
If you’re lucky enough not to have a headache today – congratulations.
People across the world donned their favourite green outfits last night to mark St Patrick’s Day.
Niall Horan celebrated with Joe Biden while Prince William enjoyed some Guinness with the Irish Guards.
For the majority, last night entailed of a simple trip to the pub.
St Patrick’s Day celebrates Ireland’s patron saint, who is said to have brought Christianity to the island.
As Lenten restrictions are also lifted on March 17, feasting and drinking have long since been a tradition of the globally enjoyed holiday.
Last night, people sported leprechaun-style outfits, danced in Irish rugby jerseys and donned Guiness hats to mark the occasion.
Many ‘jockeys’ were spotted knocking back pints.
It wasn’t plain sailing everywhere ahead of St Patrick’s Day celebrations.
A student club night scrapped plans to host a dwarf actor dressed as a leprechaun after huge backlash.
Promoter DNA Events sent out an invite on WhatsApp encouraging people to attend the party tonight at Cargo, in Printworks in Manchester.
It read: ‘This Friday we are hosting Manchester’s biggest Paddy’s Day event at Cargo. There’s a huge club dressing, plenty of Irish hats and handouts and we’ve got our own dwarf leprechaun that will be going round the venue taking pictures all night.’
The flyer featured a cartoon of a leprechaun above a model wearing an ‘Irish hat’.
An Irish student who attends the University of Salford, but did not wish to be named, said: ‘Obviously this is highly offensive.
‘I’ve suffered high levels of racism, which doesn’t seem to be held in the same regard as other kinds of racism in the UK. And this stereotypical leprechaun business is just ridiculous.’
Both Printworks and the promoter then confirmed this element of the party tonight has been removed.
Actor Gregory Doherty, who has appeared in the Harry Potter films and the Sherlock Holmes series, was booked to play the leprechaun and said he was not offended by it.
He said: ‘I do not consider dressing up as a mythical creature offensive/or a racial slur against the people of Ireland. Not sure if you’ve ever travelled to Ireland on Saint Patrick’s Day, but the iconography of a leprechaun is as iconic as a shillelagh or a shamrock.’
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