St Patrick’s parade WILL go ahead tomorrow, say bosses
MANCHESTER’S St Patrick’s Day parade is going ahead despite processions in Dublin and London being cancelled due to coronavirus.
The event will be held as planned tomorrow, said Manchester Irish Festival president Pat Karney.
Coun Karney said: “It’s still going ahead at the moment. I have just had a meeting with the director of public health in the council.
“The advice from the chief medical officer is there is no prohibition of big events at this stage.
“We will review it. Our own families are on this parade, we won’t take any risks on public safety.”
The Manchester Irish Festival also posted a statement on Twitter saying the parade is on. It said: “Our official statement is; the scientific and medical advice say it’s safe to continue.”
The decision to go ahead with plans for the parade has been met with some criticism on social media.
Bill Baggins tweeted: “Here in Manchester, we’re still having a big St Patrick’s Day parade at the weekend, despite Dublin and New York cancelling theirs. Many Mancunians are not impressed.” While Sam White posted: “.@AndyBurnhamGM Please consider cancelling Manchester’s St Patrick’s Day parade in light of COVID19. Absolutely no point in putting people at risk.” London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced that London’s St Patrick’s Day parade would be cancelled in a tweet.
He wrote: “I’m incredibly disappointed that this year’s event has had to be cancelled as key performers and parade participants are no longer able to participate due to the ongoing threat of coronavirus.”
Meanwhile, the organisers of the Manchester Marathon have postponed the event.
Organisers made the decision due to ‘escalating concerns’ about the spread of the virus.
The event was due to take place on Sunday, April 5, with around 26,000 runners were expected to take part.
In a statement, they said: “As the organiser of a mass participation sporting event such as this we have a responsibility to ensure the safety and health of our runners, spectators and crew. A new date will be issued in ‘due course.’
Last night, the organisers of the London Marathon on April 27, also cancelled their event.