Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
NEW YORK (AP) — A former U.S. Senate majority leader who helped broker peace negotiations in Northern Ireland has been picked to lead New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade.
George Mitchell tells the New York Times on Monday (http://nyti.ms/1RhRrNm ) he agreed to serve as grand marshal after being assured gay and lesbian groups' issues "had been fully resolved."
Last year the parade ended its controversial ban on permitting such groups and a gay delegation from parade sponsor NBCUniversal participated.
A second group, The Lavender & Green Alliance, will participate this year on March 17.
Mayor Bill de Blasio (dih BLAH'-zee-oh) didn't march last year, saying including one group wasn't open enough.
Mitchell, an 82-year-old Democrat, led negotiations in Northern Ireland from 1995 to 2001 that eventually lead to the Good Friday Agreement.
___
This spelling of 'led' has been changed from 'lead' in the last paragraph of this story.
___
Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
