London mayor reveals St Patrick's Day plans
Huge St Patrick’s Day celebrations will be held in London next year, Mayor Ken Livingstone promised today, as he snubbed England’s St George calling him a ‘‘corrupt bureaucrat’’.
Mr Livingstone met Dublin’s Lord Mayor Michael Mulcahy in Dublin to discuss how to make London’s March 17 celebrations a success.
Mr Livingstone said the day would give Londoners a taste of Irish culture, with Dublin’s Fire Brigade band leading the festivities.
After formally opening Dublin’s live animal Nativity crib at the Mansion House, he laid out his plans for the first officially-backed St Patrick’s Day in 2002.
‘‘We will get all the various parades which will be happening in different parts of London together,’’ he said.
‘‘Trafalgar Square will be set aside for a whole series of Irish cultural events and we will make it a family day.
‘‘It will not be just for Londoners of Irish descent but for all to come and see what Irish culture offers,’’ he said, explaining that Irish people made up the biggest ethnic minority in London.
And in criticism of England’s patron saint he said: ‘‘I think part of the problem is that when you look into the detailed history, St George has a wonderful image - the spin doctors were working overtime.
‘‘He was actually a bureaucrat involved in some pretty corrupt practices in the Roman Empire and that is the sad truth of it. There are no dragons - there are an awful lot of snouts in the trough,’’ he added.
Councillor Mulcahy, of Fianna Fail, promised that the fire brigade band would travel to London to lead the day’s events.
The pair also discussed plans for an elected mayor in Dublin, which is proposed for 2004.
