ALONE WITH THEIR GUINNESS
No pubbing on St. Patrick’s Day
At Hurley’s Irish Pub, it’s normally one of the busiest days of the year — by far.
Instead, it was the quietest. “It can’t get any quieter,” said general manager Rod Applebee, taking advantage of the break in business Tuesday afternoon to change windows and doors at the Crescent St. establishment. “It’s crazy. But it has to be done. This is something we’ve never dealt with.”
Applebee and the bar’s ownership took the decision to close Hurley’s until further notice on Sunday afternoon, following Premier François Legault’s announcement that all bars in the province must close as part of measures to combat the spread of COVID-19.
Normally, Hurley’s and other downtown watering holes would have been hopping with revellers celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday, followed by big crowds again for the parade that was originally scheduled for this weekend but will no longer take place.
“It hurts on a lot of levels, for us and for staff,” Applebee said, noting that the month of March drives business at Hurley’s for the entire year.
“St. Paddy’s is our Black Friday.” Luckily, Applebee was able to cancel the bulk of Hurley’s beer orders, which were scheduled to begin arriving on Monday. He also cancelled the extra refrigeration truck reserved to keep the suds flowing for St. Patrick’s Day.
The extra security, bands and equipment rentals have all been cancelled as well — or, rather, postponed.
“It’s going to go on,” Applebee promised, referring to some kind of St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the future. “We’re going to do it — maybe in June, but we’re going to do it.”
The sentiment was echoed at the United Irish Societies of Montreal, which organizes the annual St. Patrick’sparade.
“Trust me, we’re a stubborn bunch,” said Kevin Tracey, VP of public relations for the organization. “We will have a parade before the calendar year is up, and it won’t be at Christmas.”
Mayor Valérie Plante is on the same page.
“Montreal has the Shamrock tattooed on its heart, and today the flag of Ireland is flying with pride at City Hall,” she tweeted on Tuesday. “The party isn’t cancelled, it’s merely postponed; for now, we say Sláinte. Happy Saint-patrick’s Day.”
In the meantime, nearly two centuries of history are on the line. This would have been Montreal’s
197th St. Patrick’s Parade and breaking that tradition is unprecedented.
Tracey was doing his best on Tuesday to take it all in stride.
“You go from being bummed about (the cancellation of) what you organized for many, many months, and all of a sudden having the rug pulled out from under you, to realizing — along with everyone else — the severity of everything,” he said.
“There are bigger things going on. This is stuff that has never happened before. In the grand scheme of things, you can always schedule another parade. People’s lives are at stake.”
Tuesday’s 187th annual luncheon, hosted by the St. Patrick’s Society of Montreal and scheduled to draw about 500 people to the Sheraton hotel, was also cancelled.
“It’s a lot of disappointment, but
Trust me, we’re a stubborn bunch. We will have a parade before the calendar year is up, and it won’t be at Christmas.
it’s not the same type of disappointment as if we had done it for other reasons,” St. Patrick’s Society president Christie Brown said.
“St. Patrick was all about dedication to the community. We may not be having parades, going to bars or having lunch, but we’re all celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in a way he would see fit, by helping to protect our community.”
Quebecers weren’t the only ones crying quietly in their Guinness on Tuesday. St. Patrick’s Day celebrations are equally nonexistent in Ireland this year, where parades have been cancelled, pubs closed and gatherings of more than 100 people are prohibited until March 29.
In such trying times, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered some solace on Twitter with a glimmer of hope in keeping with the solemnity of the occasion.
“Whether you’re a Canadian of Irish descent or simply Irish for the day, let’s celebrate #Stpatricksday a wee bit differently this year ... from home” he tweeted. “With some social distancing, we’ll get through this, and we’ll have another reason to celebrate later, together.”