‘Just the cheer, the joy, the happiness!’: St. Patrick’s Day starts with smaller crowds and advisories to stay safe in London

London is out celebrating St. Patrick’s Day Tuesday. CTV London’s Sean Irvine checks it out.

The cold weather is putting a bit of a damper on St. Patrick’s Day festivities in London. But true Irish revellers are still out and about.

Outside Molly Bloom’s Irish Pub early Tuesday afternoon, no lines greeted customers in the early hours of the celebrations.

That’s certainly a change from previous years.

However, the party was on inside with traditional Irish music and decorations.

One woman, part of a group coming to the establishment for a decade, explained why the celebration is worth marking.

“Just the cheer, the joy, the happiness. Just everyone is in a good mood,” she said.

It was the same story at another table where one patron, with ties to the island, was celebrating.

“My mom and dad came from Ireland,” said Mort, who sat at the same table each St. Patrick’s Day for 30 years.

But he and most of those enjoying a drink do not represent the typical crowd seen on previous St. Patrick’s Day.

At least early on, 20-somethings shied away, perhaps after celebrating early on the weekend.

But across the street at McCabe’s Irish pub, other theories abound, including those who say everyone has less cash to spend on drinking.

“I mean, even when I first came here to Western University in 2017, it was just crazy,” explained Courtney Flinn, a native of the UK.

“We couldn’t even get into McCabe’s or Molly’s or anything at this time of day. So, yeah, it’s definitely changed.”

But change doesn’t mean police are laying back on their approach to the date, according to Const. Gavin Dell.

“We can’t speak to the exact numbers, but what we can say is we do plan for this day, and we’ll have the appropriate numbers on the ground to assist with any emergencies,” said Dell.

And emergencies are anticipated. Every St. Patrick’s Day coincides with ER visits, said Dr. Christie MacDonald, the head of emergency medicine at LHSC.

“We see a variety of injuries to muscles and bones, as you’ve said, sprained ankles. Sometimes, an altercation. We also see the impacts of intoxication, whether it’s alcohol or substance abuse,” McDonald said.

Beyond the downtown core, those injuries are occasionally sustained in student housing areas near Western and Fanshawe.

But by early afternoon, neither of the areas where parties had been seen in past years were busy.

That included the Fleming Drive area, near Fanshawe College, the site of a riot on St. Patrick’s Day 2012.

But on that day, the temperature was record-breaking and nearly 30 degrees warmer than this year’s edition.

Police agree warmer weather brings more people out, but back at the pubs, the crowd again argued the decline in numbers coincides with changing attitudes amongst the younger generation.

“They’re not real partiers then,” said one retiree enjoying a pint.

Nick, in his 30s, told CTV News the weather can’t be blamed either.

“You know, it’s always sunny when you’re drinking. And have one, two, three, four pints, hey, it’s summertime again!” he exclaimed.