St. Panti’s Day Parade

After her moving and eloquent speech about homophobia went viral, a campaign was launched to name Irish drag queen Panti Bliss as the grand marshal of Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. But the chance of that happening appears to be slim.

Organisers have said that the process to select who leads the parade “is well underway and this year’s Grand Marshal will be unveiled closer to the festival”. A spokesperson for St. Patrick’s Festival said that “at this point it is unlikely” that Panti Bliss will follow Nicky Byrne, Katie Taylor, Johnny Giles, Ronnie Drew as the Grand Marshal of the Dublin parade. The orgainsers say that although the process of choosing the Grand Marshal doesn’t take long, the board is required to meet on the matter.

At least the parade committee didn’t diss the idea.

UPDATE: Channel 4 interviewed Panti today.