by Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN - Saint Patrick's Day, the feast day of Ireland's patron saint, brought out a dash of green and dozens of Irish politicians from Dublin to Tokyo via New York, providing a little-needed excuse for parties, parades and politics.
An estimated half a million people turned out for a flagship parade in the Irish capital, while hundreds of thousands joined similar celebrations across the country.
Parades and smaller celebrations were also held in Belfast, London, Tokyo, and Sydney, and of course in US cities such as New York which have big Irish communities.
The Dublin parade gave pride of place to Irish charities which provided aid to victims of the South Asian tsunami. As millions watched on television some 3,000 marchers snaked their way through the Irish capital to end their parade, fittingly, at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
Arts and Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue said the holiday was the one day of the year when "the whole world turns to Ireland" and "people throughout the globe look deep in themselves to find any bit of Irishness that they can".
Many Northern Ireland Protestants mingled with Catholics in Belfast and in other parts of the British province but Protestants traditionally remember the patron saint of the Irish more solemnly.
Some Protestants said they were uneasy as the events were not as neutral as they had expected, despite a 10-year-old peace process that has broken taboos but failed so far to produce a final political settlement.
Meanwhile Irish President Mary McAleese was in Tokyo for a six-day visit, the highlight -- apart from meeting Emperor Akihito -- will be a St. Patrick's Day parade Sunday through Tokyo.
The United States was hosting several shamrock-strewn parades, in line with traditions started by Irish-American immigrants more than 150 years ago.
Hundreds of New York firefighters opted to boycott the annual Irish Saint Patrick's Day parade on to protest a ban on them wearing green berets.
This year's agenda, however, has been overshadowed by a recent series of crimes blamed on the paramilitary Irish Republican Army.
At the White House, President George W. Bush was to host the family of Robert McCartney, a murdered Catholic man from Belfast, who are pressing their campaign to bring his alleged IRA killers to justice.
Bush vowed to help Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern and support the peace process in Northern Ireland.
The family were also to send a message to more than 40 million Americans who claim Irish ancestry, about the devastation caused by IRA crimes.
Gerry Adams, the leader of the IRA's political wing Sinn Fein, has been excluded from the White House for the first time since the historic 1998 Good Friday agreement as Washington steps up condemnation of paramilitary crime in the British-ruled province.
The political pressure follows the McCartneys' high-profile campaign over the January 30 killing, as well as a spectacular pre-Christmas bank heist also blamed on the IRA.
Though St. Patrick's Day reminds people worldwide of Irish culture, legend has it that Patrick himself was born in Wales, in the second half of the fourth century.
He was sold into slavery in Ireland, escaped to France and later returned to the isle to convert it to Christianity, according to lore.
The saint also gets credit for banishing the "demons of paganism" as well as ridding the island of snakes -- although spoilsport scientists say Ireland never had any snakes to begin with.
These days St. Patrick's Day sees most Irish politicians heading abroad to promote Irish trade and culture abroad.
McAleese will head to South Korea after Japan, while Prime Minister Ahern was attending the White House reception with the McCartney family.
Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney and 24 other senior and junior ministers, as well as the parliamentary speaker, are all celebrating the holiday abroad, in more than two dozen countries on six continents.
Back home, St. Patrick's Day is seen as an early kick-start to the tourist season, and for Dublin -- where it has become a weeklong festival -- the event alone brings in about 80 million euros (107 million dollars) in of business.
03/17/2005 18:25 GMT