PARIS:THE IRISH Embassy in Paris refocused its St Patrick's Day celebrations because of the economic crisis. A two-day visit by Trevor Sargent, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, responsible for food and horticulture, concentrated on shoring up Ireland's €530 million annual food and drink sales to France.
More than 400 guests were invited to last night’s reception. Priority was given to French business people who are contacts of the IDA and Enterprise Ireland and who might be investing in Ireland, and to Irish companies looking for markets in France, along with their customers.
Mr Sargent went from the embassy to a reception for 270 people on a floating restaurant anchored at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, hosted by Tourism Ireland, Bord Bia and BIM.
Earlier, the Minister was the guest of Lieut Gen Pat Nash, the outgoing commander of EUfor Chad, and the 18-strong Irish officer contingent at Mont-Valérien, outside Paris. Fr Bob McCabe, a military chaplain who has just returned from five months in Chad, blessed a bowl of shamrock. Irish Army private Anthony Kelly played the pipes for staff at the multinational operational headquarters, and was to play again at the embassy last night.
A concert at the Irish College featured the West Ocean String Quartet, with Maighread Ní Dhomhnaill. Ms Ní Dhomhnaill sang Oileán na Marbh(The Island of the Dead), which was inspired by a graveyard for unbaptised children and written for her by Neil Martin, the cellist from West Ocean.
The Irish College started its St Patrick's celebrations last Thursday, with readings from the first volume of The Letters of Samuel Beckett. Sheila Pratschke, the college's director, described the turnout as "incredible. The interest in Beckett never dies."
On Sunday, the Bishop of Limerick Donal Murray said Mass before a large congregation at the nearby Church of St-Etienne du Mont. Most of those attending wore purple ribbons with shamrock, to show revulsion at the recent violence in the North. After Mass, worshippers drank hot whiskey in the courtyard of the Irish College.
One of the biggest St Patrick’s Day events was French, except for the Irish performers. Three municipalities around Orly airport, one of which is twinned with Ballina, Co Mayo, invest their earnings from the airport in a week-long “Festival Irlandays” held under a former big-top circus marquee every second year. More than 7,000 people will attend by the time the festival closes next Sunday, with a performance by the Kilfenora Céili Band.