IRISH IN FOR LONG SESH
The Glitter Strip’s newest Irish pub and its oldest are planning St Patrick’s Day parties which will go all day and night, to be sure
THE Glitter Strip’s newest Irish pub is gearing up to celebrate their first Saint Patrick’s Day by opening the Surfers Paradise bar for 20 hours.
About 450 people are expected to celebrate from 10am tomorrow to 5am the following day at Finn McCools on Cavill Ave.
Spokeswoman Tammy Wood says the venue, which replaced Fiddler’s, has 100 kegs of beer – about 5000 litres – at the ready.
“We have added extra Guinness taps and a pop up bar,” she says.
The bar has a full line-up of entertainment from bands to Irish dancers from the McNeill Academy.
“It’ll be a big party into the early hours of the morning,” she said.
“There will be loads of great Irish atmosphere. You don’t have to be Irish, you can just pretend you are.”
The pub opened in December, months after Fiddler’s Green shut.
Nearby D’Arcy Arms, one of the city’s oldest Irish pubs, has a “festival” atmosphere planned with all-day Irish bands, food and pop-up bars.
For Galway native Chloe Mentane, one of the pub’s largely Irish staff for two years, the Gold Coast celebrations are a surprise.
“I didn’t think it would be celebrated that big or widely in Australia, it really is as big as back in Ireland. “Everyone really goes hard.” Gold Coast Irish Club Events Manager Kate Cameron says she hopes the day gets bigger.
“We’d like to make it the same (as Brisbane) and have a parade through the main street if we could,” she said.
“It’s a coming together of people in the community, not just Irish. It’s such a rich cultural history. It’s so different to anything Australian people have.”
You don’t have to be Irish – just pretend that you are