Despite Cold, Irish Pride Radiates

The St. Patrick’s Day Parade started up Fifth Avenue amid snow and freezing temperatures Wednesday, but the reception was warm among revelers, many wearing green plastic hats and face paint.

As bagpipes played, the “Fighting 69th” regiment of the New York National Guard led about 150,000 marchers in the annual demonstration of Irish pride, the biggest in the country.

Sean McAnulla and Nuala McKinney of Northern Ireland, wearing shamrocks and green carnations, said the cold wasn’t about to dissuade them from attending the parade.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said McAnulla. “I’ve always wanted to go to New York for St. Patrick’s Day. It even beats Ireland.”

About 30 people behind a barricade protested the event, which bans gay Irish groups from marching under their own banners. Members of the Irish Queers organization chanted, “We’re here, we’re queer, we’ll be here every year.”

On March 7, an alternative St. Patrick’s Day parade that accepts gay groups was held in Queens for the fifth straight year.

Meanwhile in Savannah, Ga., a convertible in the city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade Wednesday sped through an intersection and slammed into spectators and a marching band. Eight people were injured.

Most of the injured were treated for broken bones, cuts and bruises, but none suffered life-threatening injuries. Initial police reports said as many as 12 people had been hospitalized, but authorities later revised the number to eight.

The car apparently failed to brake and sped through the marching band and into a crowd of parade watchers near the center of downtown.