Sascha

You should not miss the Dublin Gay Pride. As all prides, annually recurring, it consists of a series of events with lots of celebrations. It is easily the largest gay festival in the Republic of Ireland, although that is not very hard. The end, naturally, is a parade.

History: The Dublin Gay Pride was started in 1983 as a one day festival in June. Prior to this festival, there was a march conducted in March of the same year to protest against the violence faced by the gay and lesbian members of the Republic. More importantly, this march was a reaction to the judgment in the Flynn case. The case was against a few members of the gang responsible for the manslaughter of 31 year old Declan Flynn, who happened to be gay. Quite surprisingly, the judge passed only suspended sentences to the suspects. The 1983 Dublin Gay Pride was organized by the National Lesbian and Gay Federation. The pride initiated at St. Stephen’s Green, went through the Dublin city center and finally terminated at the GPO on O’Connell Street.

What started off as a single day event is now a major festival in Dublin celebrated for 10 whole days with additional features consisting of arts and cultural events as well. 

The theme of the 2009 Pride was ‘Pride and Prejudice’. It focused on the pride of the gay community and the prejudice of those who are unwilling to accept them as their own.