I have always loved Saint Patricks Day and always took part in the celebrations when I lived back in Australia.

I always felt justified in doing so as I have Irish blood running through my veins from about seven generations back - but isn’t it unusual how people, even with just one Irish ancestor, pull out all the stops and be more Irish than the Irish themselves on this one day of the year?

Well, you feel your Irish blood whereas the contributions made ancestorially (now there’s a new word…!) by your other forebears from elsewhere tends to take a back seat.

What the heck though, it’s a great excuse to get out and party and that’s what I intend to do in a few hours time. At the moment it is a toss up between seeing the big parade down in Dublin (as I have dreamed of doing for many years) or driving to Downpatrick (about 40 minutes away) where they say is the real place to see the parade on this day.

That is where Saint Patrick himself is buried of course – it is a lovely town too. We’ll see – but it is also nice to see the people of Northern Ireland looking forward to the festivities. Saint Pat’s Day in Northern Ireland has it’s own flavour and I am looking forward to a lot of fun.

I’d love to buy you all a green ale, or a guinness, but instead I’ll have to send you lots of happy Oirish cheers…

Slainte !