THE INSIDER: By St Patrick, bet on potato jibes
Some Irish resent the prominence given to spuds and booze on the traditional death date of Ireland’s patron saint
You don’t need to have some distant link with Ireland through a long-dead ancestor if you are looking for a reason to down a couple of drinks on Friday. A few liquor stores are already promoting St Patrick’s Day specials, perhaps unintentionally taking March 17 to be an occasion for overindulgence, which it quite often is in Ireland. But some Irish resent the prominence given to spuds and booze on the traditional death date of Ireland’s patron saint. As a mid-month party, many people no longer have the money to blow on booze but can still afford potatoes, so Paddy’s Day may not be as boozy as it once was in parts of Joburg, where any cause for a Friday celebration is a celebration itself. Former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott raised a storm in a beer mug a few years ago when he tried to be funny in his St Patrick’s Day message by encouraging people to "be having a Guinness, or two, or maybe even three". Dear old Sister Mary — bless her — must have prayed for Abbott’s absoluti...
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