Yesterday…
… And the way it used to be.
Dublin City’s flagship St Patrick’s Day Parade this year was once again without any sporting context, despite the fact that sporting clubs and venues continue to be an integral part of almost every other parade in the country and around the world.
The colour and youth of sporting teams has long been a traditional staple of parades to mark our National day but seems to have fallen out of fashion or favour with organisers of the main parade in Dublin.
In Croke Park and at the RDS, within easy distance of the route through the city centre, tens of thousands of fans gathered to watch the AIB Club Finals in the GAA and the Bank of Ireland / Beauchamps Solicitors sponsored Senior Colleges Cup Final in Rugby.
Indeed along the route of the parade many of those watching were adorned in a wide variety of sporting jerseys from the green of Ireland in soccer and rugby through to every colour of GAA clubs from every corner of the city and further afield.
On the other side of the barriers though there was no mention or recognition of what for many is the main way we have to assert our identity.
There were operatic giants, a psychedelic look at fun and the staples of marching bands from across the world, all adding to the colour and pageantry and all deserving of their place in a colourful celebration.
There was a tail end participation of a group claiming the streets for cycling but that was in a transport rather than a sporting context.
There were horses pulling the Mayor’s carriage but no recognition of our dominance in horse sport.
There were multinational and multicultural celebrations but nothing of the Sari Soccerfest or the GAA’s World Games.
With all the commercial sponsorship behind our national and regional sporting teams there might surely be a push to be seen on such a large stage of national identity.
There is no reason why sport should not be a major part of any celebration. It has context, broad popular appeal and the magic of strong emotional engagement.
There is unlikely to be a resistance to sport as the 5K run organised by Athletics Ireland is a big feature of the weekend.
Perhaps next year sport will be back, and will be featured in Dublin as it is everywhere else.
