Northern Ireland

St Patrick's Day parades cancelled amid coronavirus fears

The annual St Patrick's Day parade in Belfast, due to take place next week, has been called off
The annual St Patrick's Day parade in Belfast, due to take place next week, has been called off The annual St Patrick's Day parade in Belfast, due to take place next week, has been called off

BELFAST last night followed Dublin in cancelling next week's St Patrick’s Day parade due to the threat from coronavirus.

A meeting of the city council also decided to call off a specially arranged concert.

It came as other cities across Ireland, including Dublin, scrapped parades to mark the national saint’s day.

Following a meeting this morning of Derry City and Strabane District Council, the parade in Derry has also been cancelled.

This morning Newry, Mourne and Down District Council also announced parades in Newry and Downpatrick parades have been called off.

Belfast mayor Daniel Baker said: “Our St Patrick’s Day celebrations are always hugely anticipated and a great day out for people right across the city, so it’s obviously very disappointing that this year’s event won’t go ahead as planned.

“The decision to postpone this year’s event has been taken as a precaution, given members’ and the public’s concern around coronavirus.”

St Patrick's Day parades across the Republic were cancelled yesterday.

A government statement said: "Due to the unique nature and scale of the St Patrick's Day festivities, in terms of size, the mass gathering of local and international travellers, and the continued progression of community transmission in some European countries, along with the emergence of a small number of cases of local transmission in Ireland, the government has decided that St Patrick's Day parades, including the Dublin parade, will not proceed.

"This is based on the advice of the National Public Health Emergency Team.

"The situation in relation to other events and mass gatherings remains under review and any response will be guided by the NPHET which meets again tomorrow, along with the public health advice."

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: "I think it's really important to get across a very important fact, the vast majority of people who get Covid-19 in the next couple of weeks or couple of months will not do so because they attend a mass gathering.

"They will most likely pick it up in their own home from their family or interactions with friends or others through prolonged human contact, droplet infection, human fluids.

"That's why the most important thing we can all do is follow and adhere to the public health advice around hand washing and also respiratory etiquette."

However, Derry City and Strabane District Council indicated yesterday that St Patrick's celebrations in Derry and Strabane would go ahead next Tuesday.

The chair of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, Siobhán Currie, also said parades in Omagh and Enniskillen are still going ahead as planned, although the situation would be kept under review.