THE BUSY modern world needs another holiday – and what better time for it than St Patrick’s Day?
That’s what a chain of Irish pubs in Britain is saying. And they want the public to get behind them by telling their MPs that going to work on March 17 just won’t do.
Westminster’s politicians might want to listen too, as almost three quarters of the British public say they would leap at the chance to get a bank holiday to celebrate Ireland’s patron saint.
Westlife star Nicky Byrne is already on board with the campaign, launched this week by O’Neill’s Irish pubs.
“I'm not sure people would be too peeved with another day off in their calendar to sit and discuss Irish greats and great Irish moments, of which there are a lot,” he said.
“For the millions of Irish across the globe I urge you to support O’Neill’s’ bid to make St Patrick’s Day a National holiday, no matter where you’re from.”
O’Neill’s started an online petition this week and needs 100,000 signatures to take its hopes to the next stage – forcing MPs to consider a debate on the subject.
The pub chain’s survey shows that it is not just Irish voters who don the face paint and party hats to mark St Patrick’s Day.
While just four per cent of those polled by O’Neill’s were Irish, but over a third said they celebrate St Patrick’s Day each year, with one-in-five doing so by paying a visit to the pub.
But the loudest cries for a new national holiday are coming from London and the North East, where March 17 is celebrated by 48 per cent and 41 per cent of each population respectively.
Meanwhile, more than a quarter of men polled said they will drink a pint of Guinness on March 17 this year and two-thirds of 18-24-year-olds said they will be marking the occasion.
O’Neill’s alone sold more than 50,000 pints of Guinness at its 48 British venues on St Patrick’s Day in 2013.
To sign the petition, visit www.oneills.co.uk/jointhepetition
