Sadly, the vibrant green of St Paddy's Day will be a tad deflated this year.
Sadly, the vibrant green of St Paddy's Day will be a tad deflated this year.
COMMENT
With a name like mine it is fair and fine to assume I have Irish stock within me.
Which I have.
Many generations back my forefathers and foremothers and whoever was tagging along with them left the landscape of the south parts of Ireland and went to live acrossin Blighty, for where they were there was some sort of strife within the greater family.
So yes, there is a strong streak of de Oirish in me, along with a slice of English and Spanish, the latter was a colourful addition in the way it emerged but oi'l leave it at dat.
To my regret, the one place I did not visit during two journeys up to that piece of the world was Ireland.
I saw Scotland, Wales and England but did not get to the land my ancestors were from.
Closest I got was the Isle of Man, and I did have the choice of either taking the ferry over to Ireland or taking it back to where I had come from, which was Liverpool.
I went back to Liverpool ... I regret it to this day.
I could have had a shimmering stout in Dublin or gone a little further south to Kilkenny where some shimmering stouts are made.
However, I would have lost a couple of days wandering about in bewilderment trying to find the city of Guinness where another breed of shimmering stout is made, before realising it was first brewed in Dublin.
They should have named a city after it for it is one of the few beers that pretty well everyone will try, even if it is not their chosen drop, on one day of the year.
That day being today ... St Patrick's Day.
Mind you there's a few other equally fine Irish stouts and dark ales so hey, give 'em all a shot...in moderation of course.
Roger Moroney is as award-winning journalist for Hawke's Bay Today and observer of the slightly off centre.
It is also the day that lots of people don something green, whether they are Irish or not.
For this day has become a sort of "turn Oirish for da day" tradition.
Sing Oirish songs and wear green hats, which lots of budget type stores line up in the window in the hope that people have remembered the significance of March 17 and have a few bob to spend on a funny hat they would ordinarily not want to be seen in.
Now there are green parties and there are green parties.
This is the real Green Party.
For there is no nonsense here when the Irish in us comes to the fore.
Whether there is really any Irish in us or not.
However, despite having a faint tinge of Irish blood in me I don't pursue the green hats, although a Guinness is not out of the question.
But this year's St Paddy's Day will not be festively embraced in the usual manner as the world battles away at this flu thing doing the rounds.
Parades have been cancelled and many bars across Europe and New York (where it is traditionally a massive festival) will likely be sparsely populated and quieter than usual.
For humanity has been instructed to stay a metre apart and avoid crowds, and on this day where people wear green the authorities don't want to see people starting to turn green.
Which is understandable, given what this thing has done during its barrage of places like Italy.
On the subject of this corona thing, which I don't want to expand upon too much as there's plenty of coverage about already, the one thing I notice has been missing from the whole issue is an apology to the world from the Chinese Government.
It started there, and it started under the noses of city officials who would have been well and truly aware there were seriously terrible issues with the grubby markets and their wild and diseased animal merchandise.
Yet nothing was done, and now the innocent all over the globe are paying the price.
A simple "we are sorry" will not cure this ailment but it would certainly mean a lot.
All roight den. Toim to stock up.
No, no, no ... forget the toilet paper and tinned food ... that'll always be available come hell or high water.
Grab a can or three of some dark and shimmering Oirish medicine and drink a St Paddy's Day toast to the arrival of better, healthier times.
Slainte!
Roger Moroney is an award-winning journalist for Hawke's Bay Today and observer of the slightly off-centre.
