DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) – Much of Ireland spent Friday suffering from a St. Patrick’s Day hangover: More than 700 people were arrested for alcohol-fueled fights, vandalism and other abusive behavior during the holiday.

Once a quiet religious event when pubs were closed, St. Patrick’s Day has become a huge tourist draw in Dublin by day – and, by night, a drinking free-for-all in cities across the country.

“I do find it ironic that St. Patrick had a mission to evangelize and convert people to a better way of life, and our St. Patrick’s Day doesn’t reflect any of that Christian heritage. It’s just an occasion to go out and get absolutely hammered,” said Ray O’Connor of the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association. The group was behind the policy of closing pubs in observance of St. Patrick’s Day, enforced from 1904 to 1941.

“Obviously Ireland has changed very dramatically,” O’Connor said. “We were once very Catholic. Now, everything goes. It’s a selfish lifestyle with a heavy disposable income.”

Police said arrests across the Irish Republic, a country of 3.9 million, totaled 714 on Thursday and early Friday. In Dublin, the capital of 1.3 million people, 252 arrests were made.

Two Dublin commuter trains carrying revelers had to be withdrawn from service after fights broke out and more than two-dozen windows were shattered; on a third train, paramedics were called to break up a fight.

In the southern region that includes the republic’s second-largest city of Cork, police said they arrested 186 people, chiefly for fights and vandalism outside pubs.

By contrast, in New York City, police said there was one arrest at Thursday’s parade and officers confiscated alcohol from a handful of people along the route. Paul J. Browne, chief spokesman for New York police, credited the decline in incidents to the department’s policy of strictly enforcing a ban on drinking at the parade.

“We cracked down on that and it’s made a major difference. The parade itself used to be a problem, with lots of young drinkers. That’s pretty much disappeared. There’s strict enforcement. After a couple of years, people got the message,” Browne said.

During a decade-long economic boom, Ireland has surged ahead of other European Union countries in alcohol consumption.

The most recent Eurostat statistics – for 2001 – showed Ireland’s per capita yearly alcohol consumption at 3.75 gallons, compared to an EU average of 2.4 gallons and a U.S. rate of 1.77 gallons. Ireland in 2002 spent an estimated $8 billion on alcoholic drinks – $2,600 for every person age 16 or over, according to Eurostat.

Observers think a decent swallow of that total was downed on St. Patrick’s Day.

“Normally we sell nearly as much food as drink, but last night we probably sold four times as much drink,” said pub manager Daniel Duggan of the Porterhouse North, which offers meals and a dozen home-brewed beers.

“We had a nice crowd who got very, very merry, and it was absolutely manic,” Duggan said. “We’d no trouble. … But the situation in the city is going downhill. You see people drinking on the streets, particularly young people, and that shouldn’t be allowed.”

Police could not supply data on alcohol-related arrests for past St. Patrick’s Days but say the number has steadily risen in recent years.

The telltale signs of the previous night’s bedlam – broken glass and trash – were common sights on the sidewalks Friday. Most businesses had less than half their usual staff report for work, as many planned to extend St. Patrick’s Day into a four-day pub-fest.

On scruffy Dorset Street in north Dublin, Oliver Hughes groused about the heavy drinking as he watched his step on the messy pavements.

“Ireland’s not Ireland anymore,” said Hughes, 59, who nevertheless admitted he was heading to a pub. “Back when I was a lad, you’d go to the pub for the gossip and a smoke and a slow read of the papers. The young people today will drink ‘til they’re out of their minds.”

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St. Patrick’s Festival, http://www.stpatricksday.ie/cms/

Pioneer Total Abstinence Association, http://www.pioneertotal.ie/

Porterhouse North, http://www.hotspots.ie/pubs/porterhouse-north-glasnevin-dublin.asp