By Claire Corrigan
Two former St. Patrick’s Day parade committee members have voiced their hopes that a parade will take place in the town in 2023, after it was revealed that the event will not take place this year.
St Patrick’s Day parade committee veteran Des Walsh expressed disappointment that there is no parade again this year. The local businessman said that with parades taking place around the county, he didn’t understand why there wasn’t one going ahead in the main town in the county.
“I must admit, when I heard that other places were having parades and there was nothing going on in Mullingar, it was a bit of a shock.” he said.
He said that insurance issues started when Westmeath County Council no longer “added the parade on to their insurance” and instead a separate insurance policy was sought. “I know when the barriers started coming out for safety’s sake, then the Council said that some kind of contribution had to be made towards the insurance.”
