Insurance problems: High insurance costs have forced smaller towns and villages to scale back or cancel their traditional St Patrick's Day parades, festival organisers across the State have said.
Mr Peter Considine, the Mayor of Ennis, said spiralling insurance costs had led to the town's parade being cancelled this year. The insurance industry says it has had no choice but to increase premiums because of recent excessive awards and fraudulent claims.
"It's very disappointing as we believed this was going to be our best St Patrick's Day parade ever," he said. "The unfortunate reality is that we are in a compensation culture." The festival in Abbeyfeale, Limerick was also cancelled after receiving an insurance bill 200 per cent higher than last year.
A spokesman for the Irish Insurance Federation said the cost of claims far exceeded premiums charged by insurance companies.
"There is a hostile commercial environment in terms of liability insurance and we have been lobbying the Government to establish a board to reduce costs," he said.