Dublin transformed into sea of rainbow for Pride parade
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and uniformed Gardai and PSNI officers joined tens of thousands of people on the streets of the city.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Dublin for the city’s annual Pride parade.
The colourful event, from O’Connell Street to Merrion Street, is the culmination of a week-long celebration in the Irish capital.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar joined uniformed officers from both sides of the border who were taking part in the LGBTQ parade for the first time.
He said: “It’s only the third time I’ve been, my second time as Taoiseach, and the first time joined here with the gardai and the PSNI, also defence forces and the public service too. Happy Pride everyone.”
Mr Varadkar is the country’s first openly gay Taoiseach and in 2017 he become the first leader of Ireland to walk in the parade.
“You only live once, be the person you are,” he added.
While individual members of the Garda have taken part in the celebrations before, it was the first time the force had approved the participation of members in uniform.
It was also the first time the PSNI were involved in Dublin Pride.
“We are here for a number of very good reasons, one to show that we’re a diverse organisation, we want to be an inclusive organisation and being here in uniform is a physical manifestation of that,” he said.
“Secondly we’re here to protect people from hate crime… and lastly this is about us demonstrating to all of our staff that we’re an inclusive organisation and we want diversity within An Garda Siochana.”
He said he could “understand” why some members of the LGBT community were not happy with the Garda’s involvement, but added: “We are here for the right reasons and we’re here with good intent… we are here to protect all the people of Ireland, including the gay community.”
Some in the LGBTQ community have complained of the growing involvement of the establishment and an organisation called Queer Action Ireland held an alternative parade because of the force’s involvement.
The theme at this year’s main event was Rainbow Revolution to coincide the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Revolution that marked the start of the international Pride movement.
Organisers hoped attendance would top last year’s record of more than 60,000 people.
The city was decked out in rainbow colours in honour of the LGBTQ community – including An Post letter boxes and the Guinness Storehouse’s iconic St James’s Gate, and the Pride flag was flown over Leinster House for the first time.
Dublin LGBTQ Pride chairwoman Clodagh Leonard said the event had “grown exponentially” in recent years.
She said: “Until younger LGBTQ people, unless people who are more marginalised in society can walk safely down the street and not worry about how their presenting or about how people are going to speak to them or about their ability to participate in society, then we’re not there yet.”
The first large-scale Dublin Pride parade took place in 1983 with 200 participants, now the week-long event attracts about 100,000 people.
The Republic of Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2015 by popular vote, following a referendum in which 62% of the population voted in favour.
