NEW YORK (AP) - The Latest on St. Patrick’s Day parades in the U.S. (all times local):
12:50 p.m.
The St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City is a mix of celebration and a new troublesome topic hovering over the marchers: Britain’s failed Brexit deal with the European Union that could squeeze Ireland’s economy.
But nothing could put a damper on the largest American celebration of Irish heritage Saturday. Tens of thousands of participants followed a painted green line up the avenue for the six-hour procession.
A 27-year-old spectator from New Jersey says he’s always been proud to be Irish-American.
But Kevin Coughlan has family in the Republic of Ireland and worries that a rift with the United Kingdom could close the border with U.K-governed Northern Ireland. And that would slow business for the Irish.
The parade followed Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where Cardinal Timothy Dolan is greeting marchers.
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1 a.m.
It’s going to be a sea of green in New York City for the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The parade brings together tens of thousands of marchers in celebration of Irish heritage.
It’s one of the city’s oldest events, with its earliest iterations dating back more than 250 years and its current format going back to the mid-1800s.
This year’s event is taking place as Ireland and the rest of the European Union are waiting to see how the United Kingdom handles Brexit, which had been scheduled for March 29.
This week, British lawmakers voted to seek to delay Brexit for at least three months.
The parade goes up Fifth Avenue over the course of six hours, with the reviewing stand at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
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