London's St Patrick's Day celebrations will eventually rival those held in New York, the Mayor of London, Mr Ken Livingstone, has pledged, writes Rachel Donnelly.
Speaking at a St Patrick's Day reception held yesterday by CARA, an Irish housing association in London, and the All-Party Irish in Britain Parliamentary Group, Mr Livingstone said that he supported the inclusion of the Irish community as an ethnic group in next month's census. In this way Irish groups would be able to attract increased public funding and ensure official recognition of social and economic problems.