If it weren’t for a certain virus plaguing the world at this moment, more than half the American population — an estimated 57 percent — would be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on Tuesday. Cabbage consumption would have increased by 70 percent; 13 million pints of Guinness would have been consumed; rivers would have been dyed green; 70 percent of revelers would have worn green; and an estimated $245 million would have been spent worldwide on beer — much of which would have, of course, been green.

NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) - Orla Sweeney, manager of Connolly’s Irish pub in New York City, expected St. Patrick’s Day to once again be one of her bar’s most profitable days of the year.

Instead, the pub near Times Square was shuttered on Tuesday, like hundreds of thousands of dining establishments across the United States as state governments enforced closures to control the spread of COVID-19. Sweeney broke the news to her employees on Monday after Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered all restaurants to close that night, and they broke down in tears.

The Feast of St. Patrick is subdued this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Touchstone events, such as New York’s parade, were wisely postponed for the first time since 1762.

March 17 is a bigger deal in America than in Ireland. There was no doubt whom the Irish were back home: known and persecuted for their Catholic faith, Celtic ethnicity, Gaelic language (spoken out “beyond the Pale”), and rebel tendencies.

Handfuls of people walked where thousands usually gather to enjoy parades around the UK and Ireland on 17 March.

The festivities were cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak and those who have ventured out on to the streets often wore scarves and masks with their green St Patrick's hats.

But there have been signs of good humour among the muted celebrations.

Vice President Mike Pence's stay at a property in Ireland owned by the president's company has prompted a Senate Democrat to question if the taxpayer-funded visit was cost effective and to label it an "apparent conflict of interest."

Vice President Mike Pence is meeting Tuesday with leaders in Dublin after staying overnight at a Trump property on the other side of Ireland, prompting Democrats to accuse him of “funneling” taxpayer money to his boss.

Mr. Pence flew from an airport near Mr. Trump’s golf club in Doonbeg, on the west coast, to meet with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and other dignitaries 180 miles away in the east-coast capital.

A top aide to Mike Pence defended the vice president's decision to stay at a Trump hotel during his trip to Ireland.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force Two, chief of staff Marc Short said the idea to stay at the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel in Doonbeg, Ireland, was a "suggestion" from President Donald Trump.

"It's like when we went through the trip, it's like, well, he's going to Doonbeg because that's where the Pence family is from," Short explained. "It's like, 'Well, you should stay at my place.'"

When Vice President Mike Pence woke up Tuesday in the west of Ireland, he had a long commute ahead of him: the span of the entire island to Dublin, where he was meeting with government officials.

The reason for the journey: Pence was staying at the golf property owned by his boss, President Donald Trump, in Doonbeg. That's 181 miles — or an hour's drive plus a 40-minute flight — away from the government buildings where Pence will conduct his official visit on Tuesday.

The legalization of abortion in Ireland sparks a debate about conscience.
Before heading into the last general election, Ireland’s future Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, had described his views as “pro-life” and insisted that he was committed to keeping the protection of life in the Irish constitution, even if he supported an alteration. But things change quickly.

Friday’s vote paves the way for legal abortion in the overwhelmingly Catholic country.