Community Message – St Patrick’s Day 2023
News
09 March 2023
Friends
It is the beginning of March and the community is in full preparation mode for St Patrick's Day.
After five years, this will be my last St Patrick's Day as Consul General in Hong Kong. It has been challenging few years to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and outreach to the community was largely online in 2021 and 2022. Indeed, through the darkest days of recent years The Clocktower and The Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong and the Ruins of St Pauls in Macao illuminated in green on St Patrick’s Day, has stood as a beacon of hope to our community that better times were to come.
That time is now! With the removal of the facemask mandate, the lifting of travel restrictions and the return to normality, I am looking forward to an expanded St Patrick’s Day programme in 2023.
St Patrick’s Day is possibly the biggest diaspora festival in the world. It is an opportunity for our community groups to shine as we celebrate being Irish in our adoptive homes. While we can trace celebrations of St Patrick’s Day in Hong Kong to the 1880s, I want to extend my appreciation, in particular, to our present-day community groups who have worked hard to mark St Patrick’s Day in such a special way this year. They have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to keep their organisations operating to support the community and business.
The impressive programme of events outlined below are a remarkable achievement on their part given that restrictions on such events were only lifted in recent weeks. I encourage all of you to become involved and support our diaspora groups to ensure that each year, we can see such high quality and inclusive events for St Patrick’s Day.
St Patrick’s Society of Hong Kong |
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The St Patrick’s Society is run by volunteers and supported by the Irish Government through the Emigrant Support Programme. We encourage you to join the Society: GREEN CARD | St Patrick's HK (stpatrickshk.com). Some of the events planned in the coming days are: |
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Emerald Ball 11 March @ 19:00 |
The St Patrick’s Society are promising that the “craic will finally be 90” at their Emerald Ball this year. I look forward to meeting many of you again at Ball, this coming Saturday 11 March as the St Patrick’s Society – established in 1931 – belatedly celebrates its 90th anniversary. Details on how to join the celebrations are on: St Patrick's Society Emerald Gala Ball 2023 | St Patrick's HK (stpatrickshk.com) |
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Happy Valley Goes Green @ Happy Valley Racecourse Wednesday 15 March 18:30–23:00 |
“Happy Wednesday” at the iconic Happy Valley Racecourse will go green to mark St Patrick’s Day. It is a great way for the community to get together and the St Patrick’s Society will lead the festivities in the Main Grandstand/Beer Garden area, with a programme of Irish music between the races.
The “Ireland Trophy” Race will take place at 20:45. Minister Eamon Ryan TD, the President of the St Patrick’s Society and a representative of Horse Racing Ireland will present the winning trophies.
We look forward to seeing you all there to make the evening a truly Irish celebration. To add to the excitement, the first 100 individuals to register for the event on hongkong@dfa.ie will get a free admission QR code and souvenirs from HKJC. |
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St Patrick’s Day Events 17 March |
The St Patrick’s Society will holding their traditional events of Mass at St Joseph’s Church and wreath laying at the Cenotaph on St Patrick’s Day. Details can be found here: EVENTS 2022-2023 | St Patrick's HK (stpatrickshk.com) |
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The Irish Chamber of Commerce |
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It is great to see The Irish Chamber of Commerce grown its membership base in recent times. If you would like to become a member, please see details here: Become a Member | The Irish Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong |
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Joint AmCham/Irish Chamber Event Thursday 16 March 18:00–21:00 |
The Irish Chamber of Commerce will be holding a joint event with the American Chamber of Commerce to mark St Patrick’s Day. The guest of honour is Chairman of Crown Worldwide, Jim Thompson. The event takes place on 16 March 2023 from 18:00–21:00. Tickets and details here: St Patrick's Day Celebrations | The Irish Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong on Glue Up |
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Rugby Sevens Dinner Wednesday 29 March |
March will also see the return of the long awaited full Rugby Sevens tournament. The Chamber are also having their traditional dinner on 29March 2023. Tickets and details here: Rugby Sevens Dinner | The Irish Chamber of Commerce of Hong Kong on Glue Up |
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Hong Kong GAA |
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The GAA have an exciting year ahead with tournaments in Taipei and Kuala Lumpur. There is regular training for adults and children. They always welcome new members and are fully inclusive. Details can be found here: Home | Hong Kong GAA. |
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Jim Stynes Cup Saturday 11 March 10:00–13:00 |
The Annual Jim Stynes Cup is back. HK GAA play their Australian counterparts, HK Dragons AFL, in this hybrid rules game (one half with the oval ball, the other half with the round ball). It a great day out!
The tournament will take place on Saturday 11 March 2023 (10:00 –13:00) at the Jockey Club HKFA Football Training Centre in Tseung Kwan O, New Territories (a short waterfront walk from the Lohas Park MTR station). The match schedule is : 10:00–11:00 Match 1: Women's Football Match 11:00–12:00 Match 2: Women's Football Match 12:15–12:45 Match 3: Mixed Aussie/Irish – Women & Men 12:45–13:00 Cup presentations/speeches/photos. |
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Other Events to Enjoy |
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We are seeing the return of the busy Hong Kong we all knew and loved. Hong Kong is back but somehow it is still changed! Speaking of change, it is worth remembering that 2023 is a significant year for Ireland! We are marking 100 years of Ireland in world, 50 years of EU membership and 25 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. These important dates serve as a reminder that time does not stand still.
We are delighted to welcome Minister Eamon Ryan TD to Hong Kong, which will be the first visit of an Irish government Minister to Hong Kong since 2019. We have one of the biggest Irish diasporas in Asia and the Minister’s visit is an opportunity to reignite our connections in the region.
Please follow our social media (@Irelandinhk), especially our newly launched Instagram where we will post details of the Minister’s public engagements here in the city.
Other events that may interest you next week are: |
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St Patrick’s Day Breakfast Friday 17 March 08:00–09:30 |
Enjoy a traditional Irish breakfast with live music from the UCC TradSoc! We are delighted to have the UCC TradSoc (picture attached) with us in Hong Kong. These wonderfully talented musician will play a live set which you enjoy breakfast in Delaney’s Wan Chai. What better way to start St Patrick’s Day? Breakfast (HKD$155) will be available on a first come, first served basis. |
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Greening of the Clocktower Friday 17 March 18:00–22:30 |
As the sun sets on St Patrick’s Day, we are delighted to have the support of the Hong Kong Government’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department to illuminate The Clocktower green.
Enjoy a walk along the Avenue of the Stars and pause a while to enjoy The Clocktower resplendent in green. It is a nice moment to think of family and friends at home on our national day.
In recent years, we have enjoyed seeing many photos of The Clocktower in green being posted social media. If you have plans to do so this year, please tag us on @IrelandinHK |
On a final note, if you know anybody interested in joining our small team, we are recruiting! Details are on Job Opportunities - Administrative Assistant & Support Officer - Department of Foreign Affairs (dfa.ie). We have extended our closing date to 23 March 2023.
Let me sign off by wishing you a happy St Patricks Day!
Sing Bok Dak Yat Fai Lok … Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!
David Costello
Consul General