Valletta residents could be forgiven a flutter of concern yesterday at the sight of Republic Street drenched in green.
It’s bigger and better than I ever thought it would be
But it didn’t take long for locals notoriously allergic to Floriana green to join the sea of shamrocks, novelty hats and Irish tricolours as part of Malta’s first St Patrick’s Day parade.
“It’s bigger and better than I ever thought it would be,” said a somewhat emotional Mick Higgins, who heads the Irish-Maltese circle. “We had just over a month to put it all together, so it’s been quite the task.”
With a cosmopolitan turnout running into the hundreds and hailing from at least three continents, organisers were understandably pleased with the sunny parade.
So too were audience members.
“It’s a beautiful day and the Irish are such wonderful people. I’d have been mad not to come,” said one Maltese man as he wrapped a fir-green scarf around his neck.
Decked in Australia’s sporting yellow but waving an Irish flag, Canberra native Victor Platen stood out in the crowd.
“My mate is Irish-Australian, but he couldn’t make it. So I came instead,” he beamed.
Further ahead, a woman dressed as Dublin folk figure Molly Malone wheeled a pramful of cockles and mussels, while members of Irish dancing group Inis Ealga, flown in for the occasion, marched close behind.
“We’ve been to Malta for a couple of folk festivals, but this is our first Paddy’s Day here,” said dancer Mairead Gillem. “It’s great to see people celebrating so far from home.”
When Mairead and her partners took to the stage at St George’s Square, the crack of their fibreglass-tipped dancing shoes echoed like firecrackers.
They were followed by local Celtic music outfit Keltika, whose rendition of folk classic The Wild Rover got the audience clapping along in all the right places.
Don Kinsella and the Aer Lingus band had the makeshift Molly Malone smiling by playing In Dublin’s Fair City, while Irish Ambassador Jim Hennessy got the crowd chuckling when he thanked Ireland’s patron saint for having brought sunshine to Malta.
Representatives from the Malta Hospice Movement, Breast Care group and St Patrick’s football nursery were invited to the parade, while the girls of the San Ġwann scout pipe band lent the march a suitably Celtic feel.
The Malta Yacht Club’s Teddy Borg told The Times he was eager to see more Irish boats taking part in the annual Middlesea race, scheduled for October.
Irish resident Caroline Mooney was delighted by what she found.
“It’s great craic. I’ve been here two years but I didn’t know about the Irish-Maltese circle. I’ll definitely be getting involved in the parade next year,” she said.
How would she be celebrating the day? “Pub crawl,” she smiled.
Ms Mooney could have done worse than bump into her compatriot Brian Dalton, who’s been organising a Paddy’s Day pub crawl from Sliema to St Julian’s every year since he arrived in 1990.
“This will be our 23rd year,” he said. “We started off with four people and there will probably be over 100 today.”
The group, Mr Dalton said, planned to get the Valletta-Sliema ferry and take it from there.
“No driving today,” he chuckled, “we’ve left our horses in the stable.”