Tomorrow is St Patrick's Day, but Irish eyes won't be smiling in Melbourne - unless they're the eyes of Irish formula one fans.
For the second year running, Melbourne's Irish community have pulled the plug on the annual St Patrick's Day parade and festival because of the imposition of a major sporting event.
Last year, it was the Commonwealth Games that put a stop to the festivities, with strict security and traffic restrictions making the annual green parade up Bourke Street impossible.
This time around, Veronica O'Sullivan, president of Melbourne's Irish Festival Committee, blames the Bracks Government for its "tardy" decision last July to hold the 2007 Grand Prix this weekend.
"If we'd had more notice, we would have (moved) the parade to the first weekend of March," Ms O'Sullivan told theage.com.au. She said the timing of the Grand Prix and swimming meant that patronage of St Patrick's Day activities would be too low and access to previous venues such as Federation Square limited.
"We've had to cancel our parade because we can't compete with the Grand Prix and FINA World Swimming Championships going on this weekend," she said.
"You can't compete for the same market. The Irish are very into the Grand Prix. Normally, all the Irish backpackers that come every year to Australia plan being in Melbourne for the Grand Prix."
Ms O'Sullivan said that until last year, the Melbourne formula one Grand Prix had been held earlier in March on the Labour Day long weekend. "The Grand Prix is shifting and it affects every small thing in Melbourne," she said. "We go to the back of the queue."
Ms O'Sullivan said the 2005 St Patrick's Day parade and cultural activities at Federation Square and the Treasury Gardens had attracted 15,000 people.
While Melbourne's St Patrick's Day crowds have gradually dwindled - particularly since the decades when Archbishop Daniel Mannix held great sway - Ms O'Sullivan said the cancellation of the parade was a great cultural loss to the city.
"Melbourne is missing out on the opportunity to bring everyone of an Irish background together to celebrate our history and our culture. I know pubs are busy everywhere," said Ms O'Sullivan, who owns an Irish pub in Essendon.
"I often think that we're well-known because we can drink a pint of Guinness, but the parade brought families and people of different age groups together without the alcohol. It was about music and dancing and storytelling."
Ms O'Sullivan said she hoped the State Government would announce the date of next year's Grand Prix earlier, saying better coordination was needed.
She added that if the 2008 Grand Prix fell close to St Patrick's Day, the Irish Festival Committee would appeal to Melbourne City Council for logistical and financial help to run the cultural events.
theage.com.au