The Guide

Sara Keating: St Patrick’s Day – when you don’t have to be Irish to be Irish

Over the years, the idea of national identity has became more fluid and St Patrick’s Day has always been multicultural – after all, the first recorded parade didn’t happen in Ireland, but in New York in the late 1700s

St Patrick’s Day revellers in Dublin: by the early 2000s Ireland was a country of net immigration, with more people travelling to Ireland for work than leaving it. Picture: Getty