The parade is composed of thousands of participants from the many Irish cultural organizations and affiliated institutions across New York City, who each march under the banners of their respective groups.

[9] The charity is overseen by a board of directors which, as of 2023, included Sean Lane as chairperson, Ryan Hanlon as vice chairman, Thomas Smyth as president and Hilary Beirne as chief administrative officer.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH), responsible for organizing the parade, rejected the request, asserting there was insufficient space.

[16] Mayor David N. Dinkins successfully negotiated to allow for the inclusion of the IGLO, partly by agreeing to join the group in the parade himself.

During the parade, members of the crowd frequently booed, shouted homophobic slurs, and threw beer cans at Dinkins and the group.

New York politician Christine Quinn criticized the continued exclusion of LGBT groups from the Fifth Avenue parade and Irish President Mary McAleese's refusal to serve as Grand Marshall was "widely believed" to be related.