ASIA:CALAMITOUS EVENTS unfolding in Japan and a security crackdown in China had a sobering effect on St Patrick's Day celebrations in Asia this year, but Irish communities still marked the national holiday around the region.
In Tokyo Ambassador John Neary decided, as a mark of respect for the victims of last week’s earthquake and tsunami, to postpone the national day reception.
Public security officials in Shanghai, then in Beijing, cancelled planned parades amid fears that popular dissent in the Middle East and North Africa could come to China.
However, the Irish communities in Shanghai, China’s biggest city and its financial hub, and the capital Beijing celebrated in other ways. Ambassador Declan Kelleher hosted a reception at the embassy in Beijing after a week that has been marked by numerous concerts and art exhibitions.
Although the parade has been called off, the St Patrick’s Day Ball takes place on Saturday in the Renaissance Beijing Capital Hotel with a menu crafted by celebrity chef Brian McKenna. Moreover, the city’s handful of Irish pubs are hosting a variety of events.
Because St Patrick’s Day falls on a Thursday – many countries have failed to make it a public holiday – the Irish community in a number of countries around the region has chosen to celebrate on the weekend either before or after the day. Today sees “The Celtic Concert” at Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, featuring harpist and singer Katie Targett-Adams with traditional Irish music group Ciorras.
Irish Consul Conor O’Riordan hosted a reception for the Irish community in Shanghai and the city’s St Patrick’s Ball last Saturday in the Shangri-La hotel was a big success.
The South Korean capital Seoul will host its 11th St Patrick’s Day festival on March 19th. And while neither the Han nor the Cheongyecheon rivers will be dyed green for the day, thousands of people were expected to flock to the Insadong area in the city where Irish Ambassador Eamonn McKee will preside over six hours of music and dancing, including traditional Irish musicians, local rock bands and marching bands.
In Singapore thousands of revellers joined the city state’s foreign minister George Yeo and Irish Ambassador Joe Hayes for the sixth annual St Patrick’s Day parade along the Singapore river last weekend.
The Irish-Thai Chamber of Commerce held the St Patrick’s Day shindig in the Dusit Thani Hotel in Bangkok, with music by Budawanny.
