NEW YORK — Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar joined along as Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue came alive with the sound of bagpipes, trumpets and lots of green Saturday at the 257th running of New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day parade. Varadkar watched the parade at St. Patrick’s Cathedral before joining the march himself. An estimated 150,000 marchers were to make the 1.4-mile (2.2-kilometre) trek past Central Park, the Cathedral and Trump Tower. The regiment, once predominantly made up of Irish immigrants, first led the parade in 1851 as a deterrent to anti-immigrant violence. “The parade truly signifies the Irish investment over 250 years in the greater New York area,” McCrosson said.

Source: National Post March 17, 2018 11:44 UTC