We spoke to Edinburgh Uni’s Irish Society ahead of St Paddy’s Day

We spoke to the social secretary of the Edinburgh University Irish Society, Emmet Gulliver, to find what Irish students actually think about St Patrick’s Day (and to find out all the best recommendations).

The Irish Society was set up last year to give Irish people coming to Edinburgh Uni an opportunity to network and and socialise with other Irish people. Emmet told us that: “It’s not that normal for people to go abroad for uni in Ireland so this gives people a chance to watch rugby matches and celebrate certain things together.”

The society runs plenty of socials with pub crawls and scavenger hunts but Emmet told us the highlight of this year was their masquerade ball which was a “massive success which everyone enjoyed.”

For St Patrick’s Day this year the society will be counting down to St Paddy’s in Dropkicks as well as watching the Ireland vs Scotland game beforehand, though hopefully Ireland will be a bit more lucky than last week!

While St Paddy’s Day is known as a bit of fun we asked if Irish Soc minded about how it’s become an excuse for all students to just go out but  Emmet told us: “At the end of the day it’s been capitalised by everyone around the world, I think it’s a good opportunity for students to go out and it’s a fun day to celebrate. It’s a nice national holiday and it’s always good to see the colour green around town.”

And as for what St Patrick’s Day means to people from Ireland: “It’s a great national holiday because of the Irish history and culture – it didn’t used to be a day where everyone would go out and was more of a family day, but now it’s turned into a great opportunity for everyone to get together and for people all over the world to celebrate.”

Finally, we thought we’d make sure we’re all doing it properly this weekend so we asked the Irish society for their recommendations. The answer? To make the most out of St Paddy’s this year – go to Dropkick’s for the Ireland game on Saturday and watch the countdown.

If you’re lucky enough to get tickets they recommended going to Three Sisters on Sunday which is an all day event, and if you’re not too exhausted (or blackout drunk) head back to Dropkicks on Sunday evening to bring the perfect St Paddy’s weekend to a close.

Photos via Irish Society: (@emmet_guilliver and @mohmandhyan_ on Instagram).

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