I happened to be holding the ND sign for the ND Club of NYC. Maybe 1995 or 1996. At the start of the parade one of the wardens (sounded like he was right off the boat from Dublin) would not let us go because the leprechaun fed into stereotypes about the Irish.
I couldn’t believe it. I tried to explain to this moron what ND was, and how it has been a positive representation of and inspiration for Irish people for decades. Some other guy came over and let us go.
It was unbelievable. Maybe the Brits were right.