Tourism Ireland, RIT kick off St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

Then a Liberal candidate in the running to take over from Justin Trudeau and now the prime minister-designate of Canada, Mark Carney made a brief appearance at the Ireland Funds St. Patrick’s Day Luncheon on Friday afternoon at the Fairmont Royal York.

“This is a time when we look to our real friends,” Carney said to a round of applause from the crowd, adding that Ireland is a great ally and friend to Canada.

Held ahead of St. Patrick’s Day, the annual event serves as a fundraiser in support of the University of Toronto’s University of St. Michael’s College. Tourism Ireland and Royal Irish Tours teamed up to sponsor a table for members of the travel industry to take part in the festivities, including TravelOnly, Collette and Ensemble.

“The Ireland Funds of Canada is dedicated to Irish culture and heritage, raising funds for arts, education, and community development across the country. The event celebrates our many Ireland-Canada connections, with 4.6M+ Canadians claiming Irish heritage, and is well timed to kick off Irish Heritage Month, leading up to St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th,” explained Sandra Moffatt, country manager, Canada for Tourism Ireland. “We welcomed the opportunity to share our culture and Irish hospitality with some of our travel partners alongside diaspora and the many friends of Ireland in attendance.”

Notably, Moffatt told PressToday that Canada is a very important market for Ireland, currently the fifth strongest market globally in terms of holidaymaker revenue to the island.

“We are looking forward to a healthy season ahead supported by non-stop air access from six gateways across the country including Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Halifax, year-round from Toronto and a newly launched route from St. John’s this summer,” she added.

While the Guinness flowed and Irish dancers and musicians took to the stage, various live auctions and raffle prize giveaways were held, including a trip to Ireland courtesy of Tourism Ireland and Royal Irish Tours. The fundraiser event has a longstanding history in Canada, dating back to 1983. The luncheon took a pause during the pandemic and returned last year, but this year was nearly back to 2020 levels in terms of size and scale. Celebrating his Irish heritage, Carney stopped by while on the campaign trail. He was officially named the prime minister-designate of Canada and leader of the Liberal Party last night.

For clients looking to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this year, if a trip to Ireland isn’t in the cards, Montreal will be celebrating their 200th annual St. Patrick’s Day event and the streets of Toronto will go green on Sunday March 16th with the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Activations also include sites like the CN Tower and Niagara Falls in green, plus the Toronto Maple Leafs will be rocking the St. Pats jerseys in honour of one of the earliest teams in the club’s era. During the game, which coincides with St. Patrick’s Day, Mascot Carlton will be known as Cloverton for the night.

Tourism Ireland and Royal Irish Tours are also holding a special St. Patrick’s Day webinar on March 17 with a trip giveaway for agents. Click here to register.

Sláinte!