By Ryan Sands
“St Patrick’s Day is an excellent opportunity for us in Downpatrick to set out our stall for the world and to be world leaders in that regard.” Those were the words of South Down MLA Colin McGrath during an adjournment debate on the town’s annual patron saint’s day celebrations that he brought to the Assembly last Tuesday (12 May).
In the aftermath of this year’s St Patrick’s Day, the SDLP representative called for an urgent review of the council’s approach to the event, and he built on this during the Stormont discussion, even floating the suggestion that Pope Leo XIV be invited to Downpatrick in 2032 to mark the saint’s 1,600th anniversary.
Beginning the debate, Mr McGrath said that the county town “should be setting a standard”, given that “it is where St Patrick is buried, and it is the place where his story lives”. He added that “ambition” had been prevalent “when you look back through the history of St Patrick’s Day in Downpatrick”.
“It was not simply a parade moving through the streets for an hour before everyone went home again – it was a real festival that stretched across days and, sometimes, an entire week,” the local representative continued. “It filled the town with music, markets, storytelling, theatre, pilgrimages, exhibitions, tours, dancing, crafts and family events. It brought people into the town centre and gave the place energy and life.”
Mr McGrath then voiced his belief that “under the new so-called super council of Newry, Mourne and Down, we have drifted away from that vision” and that “real ambition” is now needed.
“It needs ambition that says: ‘We will build a festival worthy of the place; we will create experiences across an entire week; we will invest in culture, heritage and tourism together; we will work with community groups, schools, churches, artists and businesses; we will make Downpatrick a destination again’,” he stressed.
“It is not about nostalgia – it is about learning from what worked and about looking to the future. In 2032, we will celebrate the 1,600th anniversary of St Patrick. We have a rare opportunity to get this right. For example, what better way to celebrate the anniversary than to invite Pope Leo XIV to visit the north of Ireland, which no Pope has been able to do, to visit St Patrick’s final resting place and to celebrate Mass in St Patrick’s Catholic Church? I hope that the Executive would support the extension of such an invitation.”
The MLA urged Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, present in the chamber, to “use every tool available to him to help towns such as Downpatrick”.
“St Patrick’s Day is an excellent opportunity for us in Downpatrick to set out our stall for the world, and to be world leaders in that regard,” he concluded. “It would allow our town to shine in the way in which it should.”
Three other South Down MLAs – Andrew McMurray (Alliance), Cathy Mason (Sinn Féin) and Diane Forsythe (DUP) – all took the opportunity to contribute to the debate.
Strong connections
Mr McMurray said that, given that the saint’s “ultimate resting place is in the grounds of Down Cathedral, no other place in Ireland can claim to have such strong connections to the man who brought Christianity to this island”.
“Over the years that I have known it, there has been a feeling that, as Mr McGrath reflected, all of that is not as well supported as it could be,” he added. “That seems to be a missed trick, given not just the importance of the symbolism of St Patrick, but, as has been stated, the fact that Downpatrick is the town with the biggest tangible link to St Patrick. Celebrating the link to St Patrick should not be confined to just one day; it should be weaved into everything in the town, all year round.”
