Dick Dasterdly

The Ref. ?

Pocaloca

Nah, they should have both and make it a puente!

And while we're at it, May Day should be on 1 May, not the nearest Monday.

Also stop moving Easter around and make it a fixed date (possibly the weekend between St George and May Day). It's daft linking it to the moon. There's no good reason why the Church of England has to stick to the same dates as the Catholic world, after all, the Greek Orthodox lot have it on a totally different date.

Fredbargate

It is but who the hell wants a Wednesday off?

However when it falls on a Saturday or Sunday that should be it

Lynn R

I am old enough to remember the days before the term "political correctness" was invented, and even when I was a child I can NEVER remember much being made of St George's Day at all. I think we used to have a few decorations up at my primary school, but as it was St George's CE Primary School that was hardly surprising!

Domino

well I went into the big city to get a haircut but he was busy, so as I had other things to do I made a booking for next week.
Nope can't have next Wednesday - its a day off, International Work Day he told me in English, to which I responded "yes, its the only day of the year you Must work", it lost something in his mental translation to the Spanish but he did respond by saying his wife would cut his throat if he came to work.

so i am going in on Tuesday.

Ex-pat

I just cannot understand you English.
Opportunity for a knees-up and you don't want it but you rather enjoy St Patrick's day.

Where is your self worth?

Dick Dasterdly

Interesting one.

I suppose we're all so quietly confident that we've already had it for so long, that we don't feel the same need as others to go around waving our flags, getting legless and saying here we all are, look at us, we've finally arrived.

Fact is that most folks are well aware that for better or worse we've already long ago made our presence felt in all corners of the globe, so a national flag waving day is no big deal, nothing to prove,........
........apart from maybe a few underage binge drinkers in union jack shorts that is, but no doubt they'll soon mature and grow out of it as well.

I've always made a point of staying sober on Paddys day.
It's a superb spectator sport watching them rolling around town in a stupor from early morning and making total R-soles of themselves before finally crashing out in the gutter.

At least some of us kind hearted guys are always around and sober enough to pick them up and help them home, providing they still have a clue where home may be that is.

scampicat

Absolutely, instead of May Day.

agoreira

That's hardly surprising, I think most of us have given up trying to understand the Irish. It seems St Paddy's Day is celebrated all around the world by the millions of Irish who love to tell us how great the country is they all abandoned.

Dick Dasterdly

That's very true.

Dick Dasterdly

Exactly.

jackmoell2

Thanks for the reminder.

Dick Dasterdly

Too late you just missed it.

Pocaloca

That's true, it is far bigger in the "diaspora" communities like New York and Boston. The celebrations in Ireland and mainly sponsored by Guinness, and the fact that it falls in the middle of Lent rules out having a big piss-up for a lot of older people anyway. They are more excited by the Cheltenham races or the Six Nations which happen around the same time.

My father left Ireland in the late 60s to work in England. He still loves his home country but never made a big thing of St Patricks. He's a bit embarrassed by all this green lager and silly hats you get today.

Domino

I have NEVER, Ever, had a knees up on St Patricks Day
Nor on St Andrews

St David, well yes, a time to remember all my Welsh family no longer with us

Unless you haven't noticed - the English here are being quite reserved about it, as they are about most things. We don't need a "day" to celebrate, to get pissed out of our minds, we do that Every day, don't need a Saint.