Irish to lobby U.S. Congress to have St Patrick’s Day as national holiday

@Smyrnian - good post. Stevenstar all caps is 100% ANTI-AMERICAN. I'd like to see the U.S. make St. Patrick's Day an American holiday just to push his buttons. LOL Stevenstar, you do need to lighten up because you can't control what we IRISH AMERICANS think and do, especially when it comes to our Irish heritage.

Pretty Cheesey Hype - why not spent such energy on educational tutorials for those interested, including Congressional staffers?

Stevenstar - lighten up, pal. I am Irish born and living in the US. You have no idea what you are talking about. How could you; you don't live here or have a notion of American or Irish American culture.

not a bad notion for us - we need something with tenure. the dublin parade is like a mardi gras with much swishing going on. hedonistic, so un -St. Patrick.

And, why not? I'd prefer an entire Irish/Scottish Heritage Month in March. They Irish and Scottish have certainly done as much as any group(s) to bring about America and the United States. Their impact as immigrants shaping this country is astounding, and no one really talks about it. William Harnett (artist) Augustus Saint-Gaudens (sculptor) Diamond Jim Brady (financier and Philanthropist Franklin B. Gown (Pres of the Philadelphia and Reading RR) Walt Disney John Ford Eugene O’Neill John Barry (father of the US Navy) George Gordan Meade (Commanding gen’l of the Army of the Potomac Audie Murphy John O’Neill Philip Sheridan 22 presidents of the US have had some Irish ancestral origins And, these are just the far past!

Well, all of this is ironic and filling me with memories. In my youth, I went to St. Patrick's School, in a VERY Catholic city. WE, the SPS kids, got the day off whereas the others did not. Hence, from Grade 1, I have always had a special sense of March 17th. The Sacred Heart, the Lady of Victories, St. Aloysius, et al had to go to school and we after Mass, of course, had the day off!!! Thus, the day is special for us Irish! To make it an 'everybody' event will only serve to lessen its cultural importance. Though now 5 states and decades away, the thought of March 17 is still special for me and not something to be commercialized with St. Pat's Day Sales, Green Day Discounts, etc. Yes, the NYC/Boston Parades are wild and commercial but they do have a cultural aspect that should not be drained down as it would be under a Nat'l Day Off situation!

BUT ST PATRICKS DAY IS AN IRISH HOLIDAY FOR US IN IRELAND... WHY ON GODS EARTH SHOULD IT BE A HOLIDAY IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY LIKE AMERICA ALSO.. YOUR AMERICAN HAVE AN AMERICAN HOLIDAY LIKE THANKSGIVING WHICH WE DONT CELEBRATE OVER HERE... ALSI IM IRISH I LIVE IN IRELAND AND ITS THE FIRST I HAVE HEARD OF ANY IRISH PEOPLE LOBBYING CONGRESS ?? :-) YOU MEAN AMERICANS WITH IRISH DECENT ARE LOBBYING CONGRESS ( WHATEVER CONGRESS IS ) THERE IS A HUGE DIFFERENT BETWEEN IRISH PEOPLE AND AMERICANS WHO HAVE IRISH DECENT AND I FIND IT OFFENSIVE YOU DONT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT..

Congress to actually do something?? Anything?? Lets get real.The way I look at it March 17th is already an International holiday. It is felt throughout our world by millions of the children of Eire. What can Congress do to improve that,.... nothing ! (Which is what they do best) Slainte!

First of all it's not "the Irish" who are asking to make this a March 17th a national Holiday in the U.s. -- it is an organization, one of many. When the AOH changes it's ancient mind, and opens up it's parade to EVERYONE, then we might listen to it's propositions.. Until then, we should strive to create a SECULAR national holiday to commemorate the enormous (and continuing) contributions of ALL immigrants to this great country - a county whose very essence is INCLUSIVENESS, ....dear AOH people.

make it a holiday

"It is estimated that every federal holiday costs taxpayers over half a billion dollars in wages paid to the country's 2.7 million federal employees." Just what these dead beats need...more time off, not providing services for the people who pay their salaries.

I think they should make President Kennedy's birthday, in May, a National Holiday. He is beloved by most Americans, Irish or other nationalities around the world. I know there's a few here on the page that will have gasped at that suggestion. Catch your breath though, it's a dream I've had since I was 12.

To the author: Kate -- 1. The Irish are not lobbying as your headline states. It apparently - after a MINIMAL check that this is an initiative of just ONE PERSON within a subgroup of the AOH. Did you not check? 2.There is nothing on the AOH website about the petition at all. So it seems it is not an AOH initiative. Did you not check? Printing headlines and misleading stuff is not helpful to the readers. A little research or checking would have saved all a lot of effort. You can do better Kate.

I can believe an AOH member envisioning, with perhaps the entire organization later on supporting, this preposterous idea. I left the AOH because their aims mostly didn't coincide with mine. Anyway, poor St Patrick and his day have become entirely secularized and I can't imagine a national holiday celebrating, in essence, drunks.

I love the sentiment, but a holiday named after a Saint is never going to fly. In terms of ethnic holidays, also won't happen. Non-starter from the get-go. Why not start small with codifying Irish American Heritage Month. Still have the Presidential and Congressional proclamations, but work to get it in the Federal code. Rosh Hashanah/Tishrei will be a national holiday long before St. Patrick's Day.