By Brian Rohan
The four year battle over the St Patrick's Day parade has cost New Yorkers more than a few headaches and traffic tie-ups — now it will also cost them $150,000 in a settlement with the parade's sponsor, the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH).
That's how much City Hall agreed to pay in order to buy its way out of the annual parade mess. In doing so, the city acknowledges a federal judges's ruling that the parade is permanently in the hands of the Hibernians, who have sole discretion over who should — and should not — be allowed to march.
Judge Kevin Duffy ruled that the city acted unlawfully in its attempt to withhold the parade permit for the AOH based on the AOH's objection to the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organisation (ILGO).
The ILGO's response is that at least some of its members will be staging a protest demonstration on the day of the parade, March 17.
One ILGO member promised that the demonstration will be more visible than the one held last year, when more than 200 ILGO members and supporters were arrested and carted off at the parade's starting point near 42nd Street, before the march began. The January ILGO newsletter calls on supporters to "assemble on Fifth Ave and 42nd Street at 9am on the steps of the New York Public Library to support ILGO and protest the bigotry."
Duffy had issued a preliminary ruling in February 1993, which said that the parade was an expression of free speech, and that the Hibernians had the right to associate freely with whomever they wanted. Duffy ruled that because the City pays no direct money to the parade, although it does provide thousands in police and sanitation expenses, the city is not entitled to preside over the parade's content.
The ruling of February 2, 1994, makes permanent the decision of last year, for "as long as the parade retains its character as a private parade".
The $150,000 is to defray the legal bills of attorneys who represented the New York County Hibernians. With this ruling, Judge Duffy ended all legal moves connected with the four-year conflict. All that's left now is the threat of protests on March 17.
[Abridged from the Irish Voice.]