Dublin and Cork St. Patrick’s Day parades cancelled

Cancellation of Dublin's St. Patrick's Day parade is set to be confirmed by a government sub-committee on Monday afternoon.

The topic of the Dublin parade had become a huge talking point as the number of cases on the island of Ireland rose to above 30 over the weekend. Earlier on Monday, Minister for Health Simon Harris had indicated that a decision would be made on the parade within the next 48 hours. Cork City Council has also announced that its St. Patrick's Day parade will not go ahead amid fears of spreading coronavirus. The decision follows a risk assessment carried out by the council, based on World Health Organisation guidelines. Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. John Sheehan met with the city's Chief Executive, Ann Doherty this morning to discuss whether the parade could go ahead. Following their meeting, a statement was published: "A risk assessment, based on World Health Organisation guidelines, was carried out by Cork City Council which concluded that based on the demographic of those attending the parade, the close proximity of people attending the event and the duration of the event (among other considerations) Cork City Council is not in a position to provide the necessary assurances in relation to current WHO Guidelines." Speaking on Twitter, Cork city councillor Terry Shannon said: "I am 100% behind this decision. Having discussed this with the Lord Mayor and Council management this morning I believe public health must be foremost in our minds. "I say this mindful of the enormous work that people have put into the parade and the livelihoods of city traders." Earlier on Monday, the St. Patrick's Day Committee of Sligo Town announced that they had called off their St. Patrick's Day celebrations.