The 40th Dublin Pride Parade will take place today, June 24th, from noon.
Participants will begin the march on O’Connell Street before travelling along the Quays and finishing at Merrion Square.
Several road closures and diversions are in place across the day. Between 6am and 10pm, O’Connell Street, Cathal Brugha Street, Merrion Square East & South and Fitzwilliam Street Lower will be closed.
Organisers have said this year’s Pride is following a celebration of “50, 30, 40”. The march is celebrating 50 years since the formation of the first LGBTQ+ group, the Sexual Liberation Movement.
This year also marks 40 years since the first Pride protest in Fairview Park when people protested the suspended sentences of five men charged with the killing of Declan Flynn, a 31-year-old gay man.
It has also been 30 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland. The Government recently announced it would introduce a scheme to disregard the charges brought against those arrested.
File Photo. Tomorrows Gay Pride Parade is the 40th anniversary of the first parade in Dublin. End.25/06/2022 Gay Pride Parade 2022. Fun and colour as the Gay Pride Parade exits Westland Row in Dublin today, on its way to Merrion Square. Photograph: Eamonn Farrell / RollingNews.ie
“It’s a sombre but celebratory reflection,” Labour LGBTQ+ Chair James Kearney said. “Pride is a protest... yes, it’s a family-friendly event, but all throughout queer history, these events have happened because of the fight and the struggle for equal rights.
“The Dublin Pride Festival has become a centre point of the summer calendar - people come from all over the country.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar told Newstalk the Pride March is both a celebration and a protest.
“It is a celebration of diversity and how far our country’s come, but it is also a protest – that’s how it started,” he said.
“It’s the LGBT community and all our allies saying we have a right to freedom, a right to equality and a right to feel safe on our own streets.”
