IT'S a first St Patrick's Day in America for this correspondent and the pressure is building up before anyone even marches in Washington tomorrow.
In New York the march will be on the day itself, along Fifth Avenue, but in the nation's capital the organisers are anxious not to enrage non Irish commuters by blocking off Constitution Avenue for three hours. Instead the parade, on the theme "Irish Who Built America", will be an enjoyable spectacle for the Sunday sightseers.
But first there was the American Ireland Fund dinner in the magnificent National Building Museum. Sinn Fein held its reception to introduce its chairman, Mitchel McLaughlin, in its offices near the Capitol.
There was a congressional briefing on the Famine. There was an Embassy reception for Conor O'Clery's book, Daring Diplomacy. Tim Pat Coogan enthralled members of the Sheridan Circle over breakfast in the Old Ebbitt Grill.
The Irish National Caucus, in the form of Father Sean McManus, testified to Congress on discrimination in Northern Ireland.
The Fianna Fail leader, Bertie Ahern, arrived in Washington to meet White House and State Department officials, followed by Ulster Unionists and the SDLP in the person of John Hume. The Northern Ireland Women's Coalition would have been on Capitol Hill only for fog in London.
The Northern Ireland Bureau will have a party for visiting politicians in the Ritz Carlton tomorrow night. This week never stopped.
St Patrick's Day has enough going on without a three hour parade as well. The day will begin with a press conference by the Ulster Unionist Party leader, David Trimble, in the National Press Club. Simultaneously, the Northern Ireland Minister, Michael Ancram, will hold a press conference in the British embassy.
A few hours later, the British ambassador, Sir John Kerr, is throwing a large luncheon in his palatial residence for visitors from Ireland, North and South. What are the Brits up to? Muscling in on St Patrick's Day?
Down at the White House the Taoiseach, John Bruton, will arrive mid morning with his bowl of shamrock for President Clinton.
Late that afternoon, the Taoiseach will be back to the White House for the President's reception at 5 p.m. A few hundred other lucky ones with an invitation will be celebrating in the salons of the White House, which was designed by the Irish architect, James Hoban, before the British burned it in 1812.
After that it is up to the Irish Ambassador's residence off Massachusetts Avenue to finish the night in traditional fashion with a food party.
So you see, a parade would have been hard to fit in.
Things were more leisurely in the old days. In the last century Presidents were known to step out of the White House to review the parade as it passed by with the Knights of St Patrick stealing the show with their colourful uniforms with "green baldrick, belt, sword, chapeaux with green and white feathers"
President Dwight D. ("Ike") Eisenhower joined in the fun in 1954 by attending two St Patrick's night dinners and telling jokes. He mystified the Friendly Sons of St Patrick when he told this one.
This whale swam up the River, Shannon, making such a wash that it overturned fishermen's boats. They appealed to St Patrick, who gave them a green fly - a trout fly, except that this one would catch a whale.
The whale took the fly and he was so proud of it that he swam up the river to show it to all his relatives. So many whales came to see the fly that the Shannon overflowed. End of joke.
"There's no sense to this story whatsoever," Eisenhower told the Friendly Sons. "But isn't that the Irish of it?"
Then he turned to the president of the society, Howard Kacy, and handed him a green trout fly, "the original fly that St Patrick used".
After Mr Kacy made Eisenhower an honorary Friendly Son by hanging a green ribbon and medal around his neck, the victor of the second World War said, "All this is zany," referring to his whale story, "but what could be more zany than to take into the Sons of St Patrick a man by the name of Eisenhower?"
Then Ike went off to the Hibernians dinner, which, unlike the Friendly Sons, did allow ladies and made another joke that because the Irish have a love of ladies, "that is the reason, I submit, that we have so many Irish today." My, he was in sparkling form that night.
The Friendly Sons did not allow any Daughters at their dinners and still do not. They are a somewhat secretive body which does not seek publicity. Their origin, I have been told by a Friendly Son, goes back to the Revolutionary War when George Washington was honoured with membership by the Irish soldiers fighting under, the flag of the young republic.
The next president to be so honoured was Harry Truman in 1946 but he claimed Irish blood through his grandmother, Harriet Louisa Gregg. Eight years later he was followed by Eisenhower, who could claim no Irish blood, so standards were relaxing, it seems.
These days you have to be invited to join the Friendly Sons and to be reasonably well heeled. Irish connections can be quite tenuous. Some serious drinking on St Patrick's Day is also involved as imbibing begins in early afternoon and goes on through dinner.
While the lesser mortals will congregate at the Irish Embassy for their evening celebrations, the Friendly Sons will be in their discreet club or hotel recalling George Washington rather than St, Patrick.