THE madness that engulfs Sauchiehall Street on Saint Paddy's Night is nothing short of breathtaking.
On a chilly Monday night in March - when usually there would be, oh, ten clubbers at most on the stretch between Charing Cross and Blythswood Street - it resembled a Saturday night like one of those in a BBC documentary.
All that was missing, mercifully, was the racism,
I've literally never been out to celebrate Saint Paddy's before, so I headed for the eye of the storm: O'Neill's, Sauchiehall Street's Irish cultural hub.
I was immediately awash in a sea of tricolours and Irish rugby tops, but this was no "post-match doon the Gallowgate" affair.
There were punters from across the country out toasting Saint Patrick: fresh-faced students and grizzled oldies danced shoulder to shoulder.
There was a jovial, convivial spirit that was overwhelming.
The DJ was awful, mind: The Cranberries followed by bland chart toppers would usually be enough to ruin my night.
The arrival of an Irish folk trio was a welcome sight indeed.
I've no shame in being a bandwagon-jumper: sometimes it feels good to check your pretence in at the door, strap on a giant shamrock hat and sing along with The Pogues until you go hoarse. Being authentic's overrated.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article