Irish town 'absolutely devastated' as it's forced to…

Irish town 'absolutely devastated' as it's forced to cancel St Patrick's Day parade due to lack of support

One of Cork's biggest towns has had to cancel a St. Patrick’s Day parade, saying the support from local businesses and volunteers just didn't arrive.

After a 'crisis meeting' in Midleton yesterday, the committee had to concede that the parade could not go ahead this year.

They said the 2023 festivities cannot go ahead, despite great support from some local businesses and huge efforts of a team that had managed to stage a parade last year under tough, post-Covid-restrictions.

Sharing an update on their Facebook page to let volunteers and local groups know, the committee said: "It is with the utmost regret that we have to cancel the 2023 st Patrick’s day parade. Following today's crisis meeting of the committee we have been left with no choice but to cancel."

The Committee laid out the issues that they had struggled to deal with, saying:

We have not received enough participants for the parade.
We also have not received sufficient sponsorship to cover our increased costs this year.
Most importantly, we have not received enough volunteers to steward at road closure points and along the parade route.

The committee said the lack of stewards, in particular, meant they had "no other choice, particularly from a health and safety aspect, we have to cancel this year's parade."

"We are absolutely devastated, this parade is for the kids and we work so hard every year to make this the best day for them all, so we are so sorry we have to cancel.

"But we simply cannot run the parade this year. It’s impossible. Thanks to everyone that helped us so far."

This year's Midleton parade had already received the backing and sponsorship of a number of small and local businesses, from local hairdressers - Urban Retreat - to family-run stores.

Midleton folk who joined the debate on the parade committee's Facebook page said it was time to ask some serious questions of some very big businesses based in the area - and if they could have rowed in and done more to back the town's festivities.

There was some good news - the parade committees in Carrigtwohill and Ballincollig have offered places to Midleton youth, sports and community groups who still want to march.

The Parade committee said: "We'd like to say a HUGE Thank you to the Carrigtwohill Parade Committee and Ballincollig Parade Committee for their amazing offers for our local clubs and teams to enter their Parade, it really is very much appreciated."