On St Patrick's Day Everyone Is Irish!

REPORTAGE HAIKU

St Patrick cries out

amid green dance, drink and song-

one world, one peace, love!

Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. 385 – c. 461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland.

London's St Patrick's Day celebrations were always going to be diverse, but I was still surprised by the number of world cultures celebrating alongside London's Irish community. The lead photo above has a Hare Krishna leprechaun with an orange tinsel portrait of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (popularly known as the Hare Krishnas).

How generous of the Irish community to allow all different ethnic minorities in London to join in their parade - the bigger the better! There were Chileans, Brazilians, Scots with bagpipes, Peruvians, Argentinians, and they were just the people I managed to see.

Isn't this a perfect example of how everyone can get along, feel included and be free to express themselves without being criticized? It's not hard. We just have to put aside our need to exclude others in order to empower ourselves and learn to be generous like the Irish who welcome everyone to celebrate alongside them on their festive day.

Lá fhéile Pádraig sona dhuit! Happy St Patrick's Day!