If gay Irish groups want to march in the St. Patrick's Parade, they should work from within to change the opinions of the organizers, not force their admittance through the courts. Yes, the St. Patrick's Day parade is a "public" event, but so is the Pride parade and with a precedent of forced parade admission, it's easy to imagine the nightmare of a Pride parade with contingents from the Westboro Baptist Church or Exodus or any other anti-gay group.
Of course, my noble thoughts on freedom of assembly are sorely tested when the Head Bozo of the parade, John Dunleavy, compares gay activists to Neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, saying "If an Israeli group wants to march in New York, do you allow neo-Nazis into their parade? If African-Americans are marching in Harlem, do they have to let the Ku Klux Klan into their parade?" Which is kind of my point, but way to make me wanna eat my words, you dumbfuck.
Completely by coincidence, today I ran into a Mrs. John Dunleavy (totally no relation), just outside the Grand Central Deli on Vanderbilt Street, just off the parade route. Mrs. John Dunleavy started her St. Patrick's celebration very early this morning and was sorry to miss most of this year's parade, but she really, really just needed a minute to rest her eyes.