In the 27 years of St. Pat’s for All, traditions have developed and grown, people step away, people join. Each parade is different, each parade is the same. There’s always joy, there’s always determination. There’s always a message to be sent loud and clear, from the speakers’ podium and in the streets.
This year’s St. Pat’s for All parade in Sunnyside and Woodside brought new participants, and the ones who have been there for a long time marched to honor the ones who went before.
March 1, the start of St. Patrick’s season, was a busy one in the city. There was a Lunar New Year parade in Manhattan; the Staten Island St. Patrick’s parade, in its second year of being an inclusive march; and a protest downtown against the war in Iran.
This year’s parade was dedicated to Malachy McCourt, the writer, singer, performer, and activist who was there at the beginning and passed away in 2024.
“This year’s theme is ‘Together: Forward’” said Archley Prudent, parade co-chair. “Malachy never missed a parade, so we are proud to dedicate this special day to him.”
“Malachy and I were great friends,” said award-winning actress Kate Mulgrew, one of the grand marshals. “He had me on his radio program and got me involved with the Irish-American Writers and Artists.” Mulgrew said she was glad to march in the parade for the first time. “It exemplifies the true spirit of American diversity, courage, and passion.”
Along with Mulgrew, Charlotte Moore, and Ciaran O’Reilly, co-founders of the long-running Irish Rep, as well as long-time parade participants, were honored as grand marshals.
Irish-Americans and Irish-Irish came from all over to support the parade, and stand up for its message of inclusion.
Congressmember Timothy Kennedy (D-NY) came down from Buffalo to march. “This parade is more reflective of our nation,” he said. “These are the people who will save the country and restore faith in government. We’re going to win in November.”
State Senator Brian Kavanagh (D-27th), who has recently announced he is stepping down, will continue to speak out. “I think we’ve really stepped up in reflecting the values of New Yorkers,” Kavanagh said. “This parade came at a moment of exclusion, and the event has become the tradition.”
State Senator Michael Gianaris (D-Astoria), who has also announced he is stepping down, recalled his long history with the parade, and his fight for marriage equality in the State Senate.
“It’s a challenging time in our country,” said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, another longtime supporter of the parade. ”Malachy McCourt had a generous spirit that we need more of, to heal the divisions…”
From overseas, Mickey Murray, who was last year’s grand marshal as Lord Mayor of Belfast, returned this year because, he said, it was so much fun. When he arrived, he said, federal agents asked him where he was from, who he was seeing, and what politicians he knew.
Two more Northern Ireland electeds journeyed to Queens as well: Colum Eastwood, a Member of Parliament of the City of Derry, was joined by Councillor Seamas de Faoite of the Belfast City Council. Both are active in getting Northern Ireland to support LGBTQ+ rights, including marriage equality. Both are also active in the New Ireland Commission, with the goal of uniting Ireland, which now comprises the Republic of Ireland, and Northern Ireland, which remains part of the United Kingdom.
“I send greetings from the families of the people who were marching in 1972,” [on Bloody Sunday] said Eastwood. “They were marching in Derry against internment of innocent people, marching for civil rights. We stand in solidarity with you against ICE, and illegal detention. From your own civil rights movement, remember We Shall Overcome.”
The newest Consul General of Ireland, Gerald Angley, kept up the tradition of consul generals supporting and leading the parade. “It’s a parade I’ve heard about for years,” he said. “It’s a parade and a movement that made a huge difference, and the need to make that difference remains today.”
“There’s such a fierce urgency of now, to quote Martin Luther King,” said Councilmember Shekar Krishnan (D-Jackson Heights). “We could not be in a more urgent place to fight hate, bigotry, and family separation. It’s up to us to stand by our queer, trans, and immigrant communities. We march and stand up for each other.”
Council Speaker Julie Menin agreed with the urgency. “What happened when they took down the Pride flag at Stonewall is the kind of erasure that must not stand,” Menin said.
As former councilmember and one of the parade’s founders, Danny Dromm, took the stage to introduce the honored guests, he mentioned that he’d gotten some pushback for leading a “F–k ICE” chant at last year’s parade, “so he asked the crowd to chant along with him as he led the call to “Abolish ICE!”
“Malachy loved language, including the F-word,” said his daughter, Siobhan McCourt. “There are worse words than feck that’s hate and kill. The four-letter word that’s hard to say is ‘love.”
“We will not cower in fear of oligarchy,” declared Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. “We are marching for those who cannot march today, standing up for civil and human rights. To quote the great philosopher Tupac: got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor.”
Guitarist Craig Titchy came to the stage after the speakers finished, and played “Wild Mountain Thyme,” the song Malachy McCourt sang everywhere, to everyone. And the crowd joined in as though they heard him shouting: “Sing the song children!”
“We’ll not stand by as our democracy is being shredded,” said parade co-director Kathleen Walsh D’Arcy. “This is the best thing we can do. Gather as a community. And vote, no matter what.”
Then everyone went down to Skillman Avenue and the parade marched on.
