I did.

With all the panic and laws being
passed to try and save us from the coronavirus this cultural and
religious celebration slipped by.

Actually, it's not a day I actually
celebrate and I especially dislike my beer (when I used to drink it)
being coloured green.

Although we think of ireland, because
Patrick is their Patron Saint, St. Patrick's Day celebrations, until
the 20th century were often bigger celebrations outside
Ireland – North America in particular.

Here on Grand Cayman, it has always
been a big celebratory day with parties and sports and plenty of
music.

But not this year.

When I walked through the centre of
George Town today between Noon and 1 pm it was almost like a Ghost
Town. A lot of shops were shut and the one's that were open were
empty of shoppers.

The many shop assistants were standing
in front of their counters and not even talking to each other. There
was an air of gloom and disbelief.

There wasn't a shamrock in sight. This
three-leaved plant was used by Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity.
How many of you knew that?

Did you also know that the colour blue
was first associated with Patrick and not green?

It wasn't until the Irish with both the
Catholics and the Protestants united together (how about that?) to
get rid of British rule. The Brits stuck to the blue and the United
Irish wore green. They were persecuted by the British for wearing
green and that mad it more of a symbol and an influence especially on
flags.This was even more prominent in the flags of the 1916 Easter
Rising.

The St Patricks Day Parades only came
to prominence in 1985 when the Orange Order staged it but it wasn't
until the end of the conflict between the Catholics and the
Protestants in 1998 that the cross-community parades started to
attract the thousands that attend across the world now.

This year all of us have the
coronavirus in our minds.

This started in China and has crossed
continents and seas leaving its toll of misery and death in its wake.

In the whole island of Ireland to date
there are over three hundred and fifty cases of the disease.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said
in a St. Patrick’s Day address today “This is the calm before the
storm”. He added the number of cases will soar to 15,000 in weeks.

There were no parades there today.

“We’re asking people to come
together as a nation by staying apart from each other.” Varadkar
then paraphrased a quote by Winston Churchill, Britain’s Prime
Minister during World War II: “Never will so many ask so much of so
few.” (Churchill’s exact quote was: “Never was so much owed by
so many to so few.”)

Our premier, Alden McLaughlin spelled
it out too in a Press Conference today saying, “This is a real
health threat, a major threat to families and friends, but
particularly older members and the most vulnerable in our community.”

Forgetting St Patrick's Day today is
easily forgiven. We all have far more serious thoughts occupying our
minds.