London Mayor Apologies Over St Patrick's Day Slur

Boris Johnson has apologised to the London Irish community for alleging that a gala St Patrick Day’s dinner was funded by ratepayers and used to promote Sinn Féin.

The comments were made in an interview in the New Statesman last month and were subsequently seized upon by Ken Livingstone, Mr Johnson’s opponent in the May mayoral elections, who alleged Mr Johnson had no interest in the city’s Irish community.

In a letter released yesterday, Mr Johnson, who has fallen behind in the polls after months during which he enjoyed a comfortable lead, apologised for the New Statesman row, but claimed the issue had been exploited to suggest he had anti-Irish feelings.

“There has been real and admirable progress in the fight against any lingering anti-Irish sentiment in London and it is deeply upsetting that people have alleged that I harbour such feelings,” he told Catherina Casey, who chairs the city’s St Patrick’s Day Advisory Forum.

In Downing Street earlier, British prime minister David Cameron had joked with Taoiseach Enda Kenny about Mr Johnson’s part in upcoming celebrations in London to mark St Patrick’s Day, which now run for most of the week.

“I am sure that there will be a good show put on in London this year. I can’t promise that Boris Johnson will dye his hair green, but, you never know, he might do, it’s election year,” Mr Cameron declared.