Montreal St. Patrick's Day revellers come out despite frigid temps

Tens of thousands of Montrealers lined Ste-Catherine Street West Sunday for the annual St. Patricks Day parade despite concerns over whether a group of anti-police brutality protesters would spoil the fun.

The 192nd annual St. Patricks Day parade went off without a hitch on a frigid Sunday.

A small group ofanti-police brutality activists attended the parade as well, with the intention of holding a protest there.

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"Yes, there will be a demonstration in the downtown," parade spokesman Kevin Murphy said before the parade. "But its not against us, its not against the spectators, its not against families."

The protest ended up being a mostly subdued demonstration due to both the cold and police presence.

The parade was originally supposed to take place last weekend but was rescheduled after discovering the annual protest against police brutality was happening the same day, which happens on March 15 every year.

Last weekend'sprotest ended up being short-lived after immediately being declared illegal.

Revellers, officials brave the cold

NDPLeader Tom Mulcair, who grew up inMontreal, was at the parade on Sunday.

"It's been 30-some years that I've been participating in our St. Patrick's Day parade. Forty per cent of Quebecers have some Irish blood, so it's a nice day to celebrate even if we're a little cold," Mulcair said.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderresaid the Irish are part of the city's heritage and said even he had some Irish blood.

"It comes and finds us. They're our roots. It's a nice moment to celebrate," Coderre said.