This year’s Dublin Pride celebrates several "historic milestones” and cultural moments. 

Minister for of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media Catherine Martin has welcomed the launch of the Dublin Pride Festival 2023. 

This year’s Pride marks 30 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland following a case brought to the European Court of Human Rights by Senator David Norris.  

It has also been 50 years since the formation of the Sexual Liberation Movement, Dublin’s first official LGBTQ+ group.  

This year’s Pride marks 40 years since Dublin’s first Pride march to mark the murder of Declan Flynn. 

Cultural Programme

The Department of Culture has allocated €54,000 towards the Cultural Programme of this year’s Pride. 

This will include Pride Hub on Duke Street, which will include a performance space, and the 50.40.30 exhibition, charting the history of Pride and the LGBTQ+ community in Dublin and Ireland over the past 50 years. 

Ms Martin said it is important to celebrate the history of LGBTQ+ rights in Ireland.  

Pride flags fly at a vigil being held outside Dáil Éireann in Dublin for Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee. Picture by: James Wilson/Newstalk

“This year’s Cultural Programme also provides opportunities for artists and performers to showcase their talents with performances that will engage, entertain, and inspire,” she said.  

“I would encourage all to come along, enjoy the experience and to support the progress towards a more fair and inclusive society.” 

Sharing culture

Dublin LGBTQ+ Festival Director Jed Dowling said sharing culture has been the “key to success” for LGBTQ+ rights in Ireland. 

“By inviting our friends and allies into our spaces and our stories, we’ve grown from just a couple of hundred people marching through the city to become the biggest celebration of diversity and inclusion in the country,” he said.  

“Pride can be different things to different people, but the one thing it is not is limited - the more we share it, the richer it becomes.”