NORTHAMPTON — As she prepares to celebrate her birthday on Sunday, Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra set the tone at Friday morning’s annual Northampton St. Patrick’s Day breakfast by reading a whimsical limerick poem that touched on many of the city’s current affairs.

“I’d like to raise a pint to the voters, or a glass of Jack Daniels or Dewar’s,” Sciarra said. “But it’s tough to do shots, when our neighborhood spots can’t get any licenses from Eric Suher,” she added, referencing the real estate mogul whose liquor licenses the city has been trying to transfer to other businesses.

The joke was one of many — along with a few tears from this year’s grand marshal representing Northampton — featured at the annual event inside a nearly full grand ballroom of Hotel Northampton. The breakfast kicks off the Irish holiday festivities that will stretch into the weekend and culminate with the Northampton contingent marching in St. Patrick’s Day parade in Holyoke on Sunday.

Guests were served a breakfast of home fries, bacon, eggs and French toast as the Northampton St. Patrick’s Association honored the winners of its annual awards, including this year’s grand marshal for the Holyoke parade, former Northampton football coach Ken O’Brien.

“I believe football coaches aren’t supposed to cry, but I do it all the time,” said O’Brien in accepting the award. “I’m very honored for all the awards and citations that we’ve received this year. It’s great that the city of Northampton is finally getting back in with the Irish community here in town.”

O’Brien’s son Mike O’Brien, who works as a comedian in the Boston area, also spoke at the breakfast, poking fun at some of the city’s ongoing issues such as its planned redesign of Main Street, its plethora of marijuana dispensaries, and the recent controversy over a cease-fire resolution passed by the city regarding the war in Gaza.

“All I’ll ever read about the Northampton City Council is how they’re condemning wars in other countries, college loans, nuclear war,” the junior O’Brien said. “Meanwhile, they redid the sidewalk in front of my dad’s house on Pine Street in Florence a couple of years ago and now whenever you back out of the driveway in a sedan, it bottoms out. So if you could condemn that sidewalk in Florence, Massachusetts, that would be great.”

Other guests honored at the breakfast were Megan Gillboy, a longtime St. Patrick’s Association member who received its James Brennan Award; Judy Ryan, who received the association’s Tess Collins Award, named after a former longtime Northampton educator; and Goshen-Chesterfield School Committee member Don Willard, who received the Peter Kocot Award for community service. Fred Gohr, the owner of Fitzwilly’s Restaurant, received the Patricia Ahearn award for volunteering.

For Erin Cahillane, this year’s St. Patrick’s Day events will be her last as president of the Northampton St. Patrick’s Day Association, with plans to step down at the end of the year.

“I can’t wait to spend the next two days with all of you doing goofy things, laughing enjoying each other and most importantly, celebrating the things that we love most about our Irish culture,” Cahillane said. “We are not Irish just one week of the year ... we are Irish every day of the year.”

Also in attendance was Northampton’s state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, Easthampton state representative and current candidate for Hampshire County Clerk of Courts Dan Carey, and Hampshire County Sheriff Patrick Cahillane. Representatives from the offices of U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and state Sen. Jo Comerford were also present.

Following the breakfast, the attendees moved on to Fitzwilly’s for further celebration. Members of the Northampton St. Patrick’s Association will take part in the upcoming parade in Holyoke on Sunday, alongside contingents from neighboring towns such as Amherst, Easthampton and South Hadley. The parade begins at 11:10 a.m. on Sunday and will last until 3 p.m.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.