Permit Issued For South Side Irish Parade

By Chuck Sudo in News on Jan 14, 2012 4:40PM

Do folks in Beverly really want a return of this? (Photo by Ron Reason).

It's back: The South Side Irish Parade will roll again down Western Avenue after the Chicago Department of Transportation issued a permit to the South Side Irish St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee.

The parade was canceled in 2010 after it grew to such a size that handling the crowds became a problem. What started as a small neighborhood parade in 1979 by two families to show off their Irish pride became a drunken, sometimes violent spectacle attended by 300,000 people. The parade committee tried to bring the parade back to its family-friendly roots with a larger festival, while others tried to establish a grass roots parade down Western Avenue.

Beverly residents discussed ways to bring back the parade last summer. Nearly all seemed to be in agreement that, if the parade was to be resurrected, a strict no alcohol policy would have to be implemented.

CDOT's decision to issue a permit came as a surprise to 19th Ward Ald. Matt O'Shea, who even wrote Mayor Rahm Emanuel about his opposition to plans to revive the parade. But parade committee chairman Joe Connelly tried to assuage O'Shea's fears that the parade's return would also lead to a return of Amatuer Hour.

“Safety is paramount to our plan,” Connelly said. “We are serious about having a zero-tolerance alcohol police, and that’s for everybody. Our intent is to have an alcohol-free parade.”

Police and the security company will install “an exterior boundary” for the parade route, he said. Coolers and bags will be checked for alcoholic beverages, he said.

“It’s no different than what they do at Taste of Chicago,” he said.

Local merchants have donated $80,000 to hire S3 Security Services to handle crowd control and security. S3 does the same at Bears games.