O'Neill's Irish pubs across the UK are ramping up St. Patrick's Day celebrations this year by inviting everyone to 'Join the Petition' to make March 17 a National bank holiday.

Every O'Neill's will also be raising money for a local charity through a string of St Patrick's Day events including Join the Jig, in the hope of raising more than the £60k collected last year.

Those wanting to join the petition should visit www.oneills.co.uk/jointhepetition, where they will be redirected to the government petition page to leave their e-signature. 100,000 signatures are required for the petition to be put to the Houses of Parliament and the idea has already gained support from Westlife and Strictly Come Dancing Star, Nicky Byrne, who has pledged his support in a video which can be seen at www.oneills.co.uk/stpatricksday.

Nicky Byrne, said: "St Patrick's Day is one of the biggest days in the Irish calendar and whilst travelling with Westlife we'd discover Irish bars open at every corner of the earth".

"From Guangzhou in China to O'Neill's in London, we regularly frequented them for slap up grub and a few beverages. So for the millions of Irish across the globe I urge you to support O'Neill's' bid to make it a national holiday for everyone in the UK, no matter where you're from. I'm not sure people in UK would be too peeved with another day off in their calendar to sit and discuss Irish greats and great Irish moments - of which there are a lot of! Not to mention us ruling the Eurovision Sing Contest for many years."

"Go on - sign the petition - you know you want to, for craic agus ceol!"

Sarah Taylor, O'Neill's Marketing Manager said: "People across the UK love celebrating on St. Patrick's Day, whether they're Irish or not, with thousands of guests turning out at our pubs each year for a few pints of Guinness, to enjoy a hearty Irish Stew, to wear a big hat and to soak up the craic. That's why we're having a bash at giving people the day off work and petitioning to make St. Patrick's Day a National bank holiday."

In addition to the petition, every O'Neill's is running a plethora of in-pub events for locals in the run up to St Patrick's Day, including; Charity events such as quiz nights, raffles and dance offs; Join the Jig, where guests are invited to join in with some Irish jigging; a massive weekend of sport including the last matches of the Six Nations; and of course lots of live music.

For more information on all of these activities at every O'Neill's, visit www.oneills.co.uk/stpatricksday

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