'I find it culturally offensive': Irish society speaks out against Waterloo St. Patrick’s Day street parties

Many post-secondary students in Waterloo region are counting down the days until St. Patrick’s Day, but some community members are calling on officials to put an end to the unsanctioned street parties.

“I find it culturally offensive that it’s allowed to continue,” said David O’Leary, co-director of the Region of Waterloo Irish Society (ROWIS).

With just over a week to go until the big day, ROWIS is voicing their concerns on the massive Ezra Street student gathering.

“We're asking the universities to put an immediate end to it and they've been passing the buck to police and other civic administrations and, you know, it's time for them to answer to it," explained ROWIS co-director Brian Lawson.

He said street parties held on St. Patrick’s Day are “degrading of Irish people, culture and heritage,” and he is planning to send a letter to city leaders and universities.

"The universities, the administrations and civic administrations are not taking accountability for allowing this to happen and they're complicit in allowing it to happen by not controlling the behaviour of their students," said Lawson.

O’Leary hopes the letter will shed some light on the culture of Irish people.

"I think a greater understanding of what St. Patrick’s Day means,” he told CTV News. “I think a greater understanding of what the Irish experience in Canada is."

Lawson and O’Leary both hope Irish culture will be celebrated in a different way moving forward.

"Irish people are interwoven throughout Canadian society since Canada has been a country and let's celebrate that,” said O’Leary. “Let’s have an even bigger party, but let’s do it with all of the information and all of the education that we can.”

BUSINESSES BENEFITING FROM ST. PATRICK’S DAY CELEBRATIONS

Some businesses located near Ezra Avenue said they are eagerly awaiting St. Patrick’s Day festivities in Waterloo.

"It’s really happy to, you know, see different kinds of things… different kinds of people as well," said Manjot Kaur, a supervisor at Twisted Indian Fusion Street Food.

"It seems like you really don't realize how many students are around here until that day [because] they're just loaded all the way down the streets," said Madison Pigeau, a manager at Booster Juice.

Philthy Philly’s, meanwhile, is stocking up on supplies.

"We have double the prep… and like, this year on top of the amazing food we have, we've also added liquor for the students," explained Sood.