Shaun Ruddy, Chair of St. Patrick's Parade Society

Today,  I’ll be chatting with Shaun Ruddy, one of the greatest characters in the Irish community in Toronto. Shaun’s father emigrated from Donegal to Canada and Shaun was very aware of his Irish routes from a young age. 

Among many things, Shaun is well known as the Chair of the St. Patrick’s Parade Society, where he organises the most diverse St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the world, right here in Toronto. Shaun’s history with the parade dates back much earlier than when he started chairing the organization behind it. He marched in the city’s first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1988, after it stopped being held due to violence in 1878 between Protestants and Catholics. He has organised the parade for the last eight years and it now has up to 5,000 participants, an illustration of the tremendous work Shaun has done.

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