Europe News
Irish all over the world celebrate St Patrick's Day
By DPA
Mar 17, 2007, 19:55 GMT

Cork, Ireland - Irish people all over the world on Saturday were celebrating St Patrick's Day with colourful parades and music to commemorate their patron saint and show their national pride.

Traditional Irish symbols such as the shamrock and the leprechaun could be spotted from the Ireland to United States to Australia.

According to media reports, the sales of Guinness, Ireland's favourite beer, rise dramatically every year on 17 March as people mark the holiday.

Members of the Irish cabinet have been travelling to places including Washington, Buenos Aires, Beijing, Pretoria, Paris, Hanoi and Warsaw ahead of St Patrick's Day in an effort to boost tourism and investment in Ireland, but also to reconnect with the massive Irish diaspora.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, meanwhile, was due to meet United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York, before presenting US President George W Bush with a bowl of shamrock during his annual visit in the White House.

According to legend, St Patrick was born in Wales in the 5th century AD, and at the age of 16 was abducted by Irish raiders and taken to Ireland, where he lived in captivity until he managed to escape.

Patrick went home and studied for the priesthood before returning to Ireland as a missionary to spread Christianity. March 17 is thought to be the anniversary of his death. Patrick died around 460 AD. By the eighth century he had become the patron saint of Ireland.