Heritage Partner Comment by That's Just How It Was on November 8, 2015 at 10:51am

With respect to all of the comments above; a person who was born on the Island of Ireland  [me] ,, in my opinion , St Patrick was the patron St of Ireland , and in this matter,  he was not exclusive to Catholics ; he  encompassed all the people of Ireland . In Uni In England I met, and made friends with ,many Protestant's / Quakers and even Jews who celebrate St, Patrick's day.

Even Pope Francis, in his wisdom is reaching out to all domination's off Faith , Why is it so hard for people to understand that St Patrick is a figure head of one island, where the majority of Catholics were in the south of Ireland , Northern Irish Catholics and Protestant have celebrated St Patrick's day for many years .

What happened to the Good Friday agreement, where people of both domination's were desperately trying to call a halt to this type of segregation of Catholic and Protestant . 

England an the USA and many other Countries all over the world celebrate St Patrick's day, and just like the USA , Britain's  infrastructure was build on the backs of all Irishmen  from both sections of Protestant and Catholic [Paddy's ] my father /brother being just two of these Paddy's, and they happily downed a pint of  Guinness  with all their building mates - both Catholic and Protestant on St Patrick's Day,

Please remember that as Irish people [or are of Irish ancestry ], we share the responsibly of attempting to ally the fears of the public globally, that Catholics are not  bigots, and do not own the right to call St Patrick out exclusive Saint , I personally have celebrated with Muslims ; Bahi's and Jews ; to show respect for my friends and family in their beliefs     

It is 2015 -- so lets try and leave all that bigotry behind and move into a world that encompasses all Faiths .  

Comment by Fr. John R. Sheehan, SJ on November 8, 2015 at 4:07pm

With respect - the point of the controversy is the attempt to take away the right of the affiliates to have a voice in the Parade and how it is managed and run. If the Celebration Committee is dissolved, the whole parade will be run by 6 or 8 people, with no requirement that they be Irish or Catholic or associated with any Irish organization. 

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