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What is wrong with this picture? Bill Hurley is nursing a glass of orange juice prior to the grandest event of his year.

Hurley is the proprietor of Hurley’s Irish Pub, the downtown epicentre for all things Irish this weekend. But he is quick to point out the orange juice he’s sipping is somewhat akin to a runner limbering up prior to a marathon. And a marathon it will be.

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“Actually, I’ll be working pretty much nonstop until the wee, or maybe not so wee, hours of Monday morning, so I have to work my way into shape and exercise a wee bit of caution,” Hurley explains.

Right.

And let’s just say St. Patrick’s Day and the city’s annual parade — both falling on Sunday — are the equivalent of the Super Bowl, Grand Prix, Stanley Cup (should it ever, sigh, return here) and every summer festival all rolled up into one for Hurley and many other city publicans, Irish or otherwise.

Shamrocks rule, be it at Le Vieux Dublin, McKibbin’s, McLean’s, Honey Martin and the Ye Olde Orchards, as well as at Burgundy Lion, Thursdays, Winnie’s and, for this weekend, O’Ziggy’s, among others. With any luck, the Irish Embassy Pub, another popular gathering spot but still closed after a fire last April, will be back in operation for next year’s fête.