Many St. Patrick Day parades in Ireland may not go ahead because of a threat of industrial action by public sector workers.

IMPACT, the union that represents public sector workers, has asked its members in the Cork County Council to refrain from participating or engaging in the running of this year’s parade.

In a letter to its members, IMPACT wrote: "Please note that from today IMPACT members are instructed not to take part in, or attend, any forum or function regarding the festival."

An IMPACT spokesperson said that working for the parade was outside the terms of their contracts.

The majority of public sector workers volunteer to work for the St Patrick's Day festivities.

"The fact remains that these kinds of projects rely on the voluntary co-operation of public service workers. And we are withdrawing voluntary co-operation," said the spokesperson.

IMPACT also criticized the government saying that the industrial action is a "consequence of the government walking away from negotiations."

The industrial action is currently only applied to the Cork County Council. It is unknown whether or not the industrial action will be imposed on other Councils around the country.

Lord Mayor of Cork, Dara Murphy, said that work for the festival could be done within working hours in the coming weeks. He also strongly criticized the government for economic mismanagement throughout the years.

"I appreciate the workers have been put in a difficult situation following the cutbacks in their wages caused by successive years of economic mismanagement by the government," said Murphy.