Shanghai Irish to organise smaller event to mark St Patrick's Day

ORGANISERS OF the St Patrick’s Day festival in Shanghai sought to put a brave face on things yesterday after city authorities banned their annual parade amid heightened security concerns and focused instead on the events that were being allowed to go ahead to celebrate Ireland’s national day.

The Le Chéile group for Irish expatriates, which organises the parade and other events for the overseas Irish in Shanghai, issued a statement yesterday encouraging people to come along and join “An Féile Beag”, the downsized event being held instead of the parade. The St Patrick’s Day ball will also go ahead on Saturday night.

The parade had been scheduled to march down the Nanjing Donglu shopping precinct next Saturday but city officials withdrew permission because the route runs close to Peace Square, the hot-spot of recent phantom protest sites.

From there anonymous online organisers have called on citizens to stage protests similar to the Jasmine Revolution currently shaking the Middle East.

Chinese authorities are obviously far more worried about matters jasmine-related than anything to do with the shamrock, so the police withdrew permission for the annual parade in Shanghai because they do not want any public gatherings taking place in “sensitive areas”.

Ireland’s consul general Conor O’Riordan said organisers had been told they could hold the parade if they chose a less sensitive venue. However, the organisers declined as they could not find an alternative route at such short notice.

Expectations had been high for the event. St Patrick’s Day parades are the only national parade allowed on the streets of the Chinese financial capital. About 2,000 people had been expected to attend, with €60,000 in sponsorship raised. A number of senior local Chinese officials have joined the parade in the past.

“An Féile Beag”, to be held in the Shanghai Centre plaza, which is home to the Irish consulate, will feature a six-metre tall Fionn MacCumhain (Finn McCool); a giant dragon; mythical bulls; Irish wolfhounds and various activities.

China’s security apparatus has gone into overdrive on recent Sundays in response to protest calls. Gangs of uniformed and plainclothes police and journalists have gathered at possible rally sites in Shanghai and in the capital Beijing, although there has been no evidence of protests.

Some foreign journalists were beaten by security officials during a crackdown on reporting, although foreign minister Yang Jiechi denied police were involved in roughing up reporters.

“There is no such issue as Chinese police officers beating foreign journalists,” he said at the National People’s Congress in Beijing. It was not clear if his denial also applied to state security personnel or plain-clothes officials.