THE organisers of a controversial St Patrick’s Day parade in New Jersey are looking for another city to host their annual march after it was moved by local officials fed up with the number of drink-fuelled arrests.
Irish-American groups reacted angrily to Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer’s decision to switch the parade from the traditional first Saturday in March to a Wednesday evening.
The city defended the move, claiming that increasing levels of arrests had put too much of a strain on the police force and other local authority workers.
Last year 34 people were arrested after the parade and two women reported sexual assaults. According to the New York Times, many of the charges involved police officers being punched.
The city defended the move, claiming that increasing levels of arrests had put too much of a strain on the police force and other local authority workers.
Last year 34 people were arrested after the parade and two women reported sexual assaults. According to the New York Times, many of the charges involved police officers being punched.
There were also cases of vandalism, with one group of revellers throwing a flowerpot at firefighters.
"Our march begins at 1pm and finishes at 3pm," spokesman for the parade organisers Bill Coughlin told the Irish Examiner.
"We’ve always taken the position that what happens after the parade is not our responsibility and we can’t be punished for something we don’t have control over. There are problems but the city will lose out on business, overall this isn’t a good move.
"We have a proud tradition of involving Irish traditional musicians in our parade. These are people with regular jobs who only take time off for the St Patrick’s Day parade in Manhattan. There are also a lot of commuters coming through Hoboken at that time. It would have been impossible. We’ll still have our regular church service and we’ve had a lot of invitations from other towns and cities."
"Our march begins at 1pm and finishes at 3pm," spokesman for the parade organisers Bill Coughlin told the Irish Examiner.
"We’ve always taken the position that what happens after the parade is not our responsibility and we can’t be punished for something we don’t have control over. There are problems but the city will lose out on business, overall this isn’t a good move.
"We have a proud tradition of involving Irish traditional musicians in our parade. These are people with regular jobs who only take time off for the St Patrick’s Day parade in Manhattan. There are also a lot of commuters coming through Hoboken at that time. It would have been impossible. We’ll still have our regular church service and we’ve had a lot of invitations from other towns and cities."
"But this isn’t a bargaining tool. We’re at a total stalemate with the city and there will be no parade in 2012."
However, Hoboken officials will have a full police contingent on duty on March 3.
The mayor said: "I don’t know whether we’ll have people coming in. I don’t believe we’ll have the same problems but better to be safe than sorry."
Meanwhile, Chicago’s South Side parade, which was halted three years ago for similar reasons, is now set to return.
According to reports, the Chicago Department of Transportation has issued a permit to the parade committee.
Committee chairman Joe Connelly said on Friday that the parade will march down Western Avenue on March 11. Organisers said the parade would be family friendly and that there would be a zero-tolerance policy for alcohol use by anyone.
Alderman Matt O’Shea opposed the parade and sent the mayor, Rahm Emanuel, a letter, saying the parades had become "rowdy, drunken, and often violent".
However, the city approved the permit after receiving assurances that strict crowd control policies would be set in place.