NYC St Patrick’s Day Parade official resigns after Gardaí controversy
Reilly J. Dundon is resigning from the NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade committee and Board of Directors, according to a report in the Irish Echo. Dundon’s resignation comes after con‐ troversy surrounding An Garda Síochá‐ na's past and future participation in the long-running parade, which has made headlines in recent weeks.
In early February, the Irish Examiner re‐ ported that it understood "Gardaí will not be marching in this year's St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New York following an apparent disagreement at last year’s event."
The Irish Echo now reports that Dundon, who has been involved with the Parade for nearly 50 years, is resigning as For‐ mation Chairman, Credentials Chairman, Security Committee Chairman, as well as a member of the New York Parade and Celebrations Committee, and the Parade Board of Directors.
In his resignation letter to NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade Chairman Sean Lane, Dundon wrote that Gardaí "dis‐ rupted parade operations, openly con‐ sumed alcohol, refused to obey lawful instructions and acted towards Forma‐ tion Committee volunteers in a bel‐ ligerent and aggressive manner. This in‐ cluded at least 3 supervisory Garda offi‐ cers."
Dundon went on to reference a viral video from the 2023 parade that showed members of An Garda Síochána stopping to engage with Jason Sherlock, a Dublin GAA star who was a spectator. Dundon pointed to reports sent to mem‐ bers of the parade board and a video link "showing uniformed Garda tossing a G.A.A. player up in the air on Fifth Avenue."
Finglas finest! This video of Jason Sher‐ lock at a Paddys Day parade is the best thing I’ve seen all day pic.twit‐ ter.com/9GfFoKbl0i
- Samantha Libreri (@SamanthaLibreri) March 17, 2023
After An Garda Síochána claimed in Feb‐ ruary that they had not received an invi‐ tation to march in the 2024 NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade, parade organizers issued a statement saying that no groups are "invited" to march - rather, groups can apply to march. Organizers further noted that An Garda Síochána missed the application dead‐ line by more than a month, though Chairman Lane said parade officials were working with An Garda Síochána to facilitate their application. A spokesperson for An Garda Síochána subsequently told IrishCentral that they had received confirmation from parade organizers that members applying to take part in this year’s parade "will be facilitated."
The spokesperson added: "Gardaí wish‐ ing to take part in this particular event must apply for this permission to take their uniform outside of the State. "When permission is granted, Gardaí travel to such events at their own ex‐ pense and in their own time." According to the Irish Echo, Dundon wrote in his letter that the parade's offi‐ cials had stated in the aftermath of the 2023 parade that the Garda were "per‐ sonae non gratae" for the 2024 parade "due to their documented misconduct." Dundon continued: "You then reversed course after being contacted by repre‐ sentatives of the Irish government and informed me in a conference call on
February 8, 2024 that you were going to accommodate the Garda in the 2024 parade without sanction, or any other consequence for their misconduct. "This is in reversal of long-standing parade policy dating back to at least the 1950s, which has been routinely utilized to maintain standards of conduct in our very large parade. It is also a complete reversal of your public statements since 2023."
Dundon wrote that the reversal had "ef‐ fectively crippled" his ability to "manage and effectively control the parade at its source."
Dundon wrote that since the announce‐ ment that the Garda would be accom‐ modated in the 2024 parade, he had re‐ ceived "over 20 resignations from parade volunteers who served as part of the Formation Committee."
When asked for comment, Chairman Lane told the Irish Echo: "Reilly has made enormous contributions to the parade and our community over many years. I deeply regret his resignation.” The 2024 NYC St. Patrick's Day Parade will be held on Saturday, March 16. Co Mayo native Maggie Timoney will lead the march as Grand Marshal.