ST. PATRICK’S DAY is a rather important date in the Irish-American calendar but it’s looking like there won’t be a parade for the residents of Hoboken, New Jersey for the third year running.
The 2012 parade was cancelled after a dispute between the town’s mayor Dawn Zimmer and the organising committee of the Hoboken St Patrick’s Day Parade could not be resolved.
Zimmer had suggested that the celebration – which was traditionally held on the first Saturday in March – be moved to a week day in to avoid a repeat of the 34 arrests made at the 2011 event. She said that the behaviour of citizens had dishonoured “the meaning of the day”.
The Hoboken St Patrick’s Parade Committee responded with a statement that dismissed Zimmer’s idea as both “insulting” and “unreasonable”, and ultimately decided that it would be better to cancel the event entirely.
Two years later the battle rages on, with both sides unwilling to change their stance on the celebration. Bill Coughlin, a representative for the Parade Committee, told The Hudson Reporter that they were still unwilling to hold the parade on a week day. City spokesman Juan Melli confirmed Zimmer was still standing her ground too.
With no official arrangements for celebrations in place, the city’s revellers opted to organise their own ‘shenanigans’.
The Irish Echo revealed that Hoboken Lepre-Con was encouraging people to “dress up in full Leprechaun garb or other Irish festive gear” because “You can cancel the parade, but you can’t cancel the party”.
Here’s how they got on.
The even was quite the success and was hosted again in 2013 but, with the 2014 parade’s future still uncertain, it’s unclear whether or not they’ll be at it again this year.
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