Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore Rips NYC's St. Patrick's Day Parade

"What these parades are about is a celebration of Ireland and Irishness. I think they need to celebrate Ireland as it is, not as people imagine it. Equality is very much the center of who we are in our identity in Ireland. This issue of exclusion is not Irish, let's be clear about it. Exclusion is not an Irish thing, I think that's the message that needs to be driven home." - Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore, speaking in NYC to Irish-American LGBT activists.

NYC's parade, the world's largest, is run by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who in 1995 won a Supreme Court battle to exclude gay groups from participating.