Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
BACKERS OF A PLAN to place ‘Rainbow Walks’ at a number of Dublin city centre junctions say they hope the project gets the green light in time to mark the first anniversary of the same-sex marriage referendum next May.
Similar pedestrian walkways can be found in locations of significance to the LGBT community around the world – at junctions in the Castro District in San Francisco, for instance, and in Sydney, Australia.
The project could also help bolster the city’s image as a destination for LGBT tourists, according to campaigners.
“Following the successful passing of the Marriage Equality referendum, Ireland and especially Dublin is now seen as a beacon of hope around the world for many LGBT people who come from places less than welcoming to their gay citizens,” Dale McDermott, who’s heading up the proposal, said in a Facebook post.
“The LGBT community has been welcomed with open arms by the people of Ireland and I feel that this would further bolster the support for LGBT people across Dublin City and the world.”
The walks would be installed at locations that ”have significant meaning to the LGBT community in Dublin”. The proposed sites are at:
1. The junction of George’s Street and Dame Street – close to the city’s most famous LGBT bar ‘The George’.
2. On Capel Street – across from PantiBar
3. At the Parliament Street and Dame Street junction (close to the courtyard in Dublin Castle – where the referendum result was greeted).
“Having seen these already in the Castro District in San Francisco and how much of a tourist attraction they are, I really feel that Dublin could seriously benefit from such a simple yet important and colourful touch to our beautiful city,” McDermott wrote.
“Cities all over the world, from Tel Aviv to Sydney, have installed rainbow-coloured pedestrian crossings and given the fact that Dublin is now viewed as a prime location for gay people, this will send a further signal that Dublin is welcoming to LGBT all over the world.”
“This would be good for tourism, good for culture and good for business.”
Fine Gael councillor Noel Rock has proposed the motion to Dublin City Council and expects it to be heard early next year.
He said he hoped the walkways would be in place before 23 May next, and said a number of tech multinationals had expressed an interest in funding them. The cost, at any rate, would be “minimal,” he said tonight.
What do you make of the walkways?
You can read more about the proposals here.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Are we not all equal now, why the need for creating differences………
Exactly…. They wanted and got the same rights…. Now they want to turn it into my little ponyland….. Thats bollox, but the bigger bolloxs is those prlcks who will allow it. Tell them to fvck off, just like they tell everyone else in life….
The gay community hardly sat down around a table and decided to paint the roads you div. This is corporate Ireland trying to monopolise on the influx of ‘rainbow cash’, as I’ve heard it being referred to, that’s come with the Yes vote in the referendum. Not that it matters why they’re put in place, its some paint on the street. Step over it if you dont like it and carry on with your day.
I do not expect anything, not asking for anything…. Thats the thing…. Maybe this is a cash grab, but it should be stopped….
Tacky looking.. It doesn’t work in Dublin, I could see it working in sunny Sydney amongst brilliant buildings, sites etc.. Give these crossings before they’re covered in curry chips, dry blood, chewing gum, mucus, and filthy dirty. Another eye sore. No thanks
Not sure who you mean by ‘they’,considering straights and gays so just people support and ensure lgbt rights where they pass so presumably a similar mix of people suggested these and goodness knows the area could use a bitta colour.
No we are not all equal now! And while your at it give the Rainbow back to the “KIDS” where it belongs.
To clarify however if this is about something where DCC should just put the money into housing the homeless, which is essential so close to xmas! then Im firmly against it.
Sean, I don’t know if your familiar with how money works, but the whole idea of making a tourist trail is to bring in extra money, which will enable other things to be paid for.
Did nobody do Bus Org in the Leaving Cert?
Neal. The money was there is the last budget. More was given to tax breaks of you remember
I’m all in favour of gay rights but not gay rights of way. They should have to wait for the lights to change like the rest of us.
I also oppose the marginalisation of zebras.
If DCC has spare money to splash the paint around I’m sure there’s a few places in more need of a lick of paint.
Chris – This initiative is to bring money in through tourism, so it will enable those other places to be painted.
How about stop wasting money and get their house in order, A&E, drug clinics, filthy city, policing etc etc etc
In particular, there is a road in need of serious marking between Busáras and the Custom House.
I also question just how many people will come to Dublin to see 3 rainbow-painted crosswalks.
This LGBT stuff is getting ridiculous at this stage.
So is your obsession with it.
Media obsession you mean.
Dermot I’m not the one brining the issue up, merely passing comment on it.
At every possible opportunity. There’s a saying about empty vessels that springs to mind…
What a beautifully inclusive idea! Can’t wait to see these walks in Dublin, hopefully other towns & cities will follow!
Graham, not sure the disagrees, other than plain old fashioned dumbness….
It’s not inclusive. It demarcates gays literally and discloses many others at the same time
Ach c’mon how much more can this be milked? It’s done and dusted.. The fact we’re making such a big deal about it shows how backward Ireland is.. It’s 2015.
What are we doing to celebrate the anniversary of the judges pay referendum?
You cant say milk !!
If it enhances road safety then it must be a good idea.
If it is a distraction to road safety then it is definitely a bad idea.
Creaming it more like .
That’s what he/she said
Oohh , behave …
So does that mean the standard pedestrian crossing is now a straight crossing??
If 50% think this is a bad idea or have no interest and 49% think this is a good idea, I am interested to know what the missing 1% think?
They’re rainbow fluid
What a waste of money
Ridiculous
Give it a rest
Ah come on lads. You have equality and i’m happy for yous as I have gay friends. but you don’t have to try and shove it down everyones throat. You don’t see us asking for zebra crossings with naked ladies on them now do ya?
Shove it down your throat? My what evocative imagery. I do wonder what does be on your mind.
Oh behave!
Heterosexuality is shoved down everyone’s throats, every paper, magazine, ad break and TV show has a straight couple showing off how happy they are? Don’t they have enough?
Have they painted the roads Lisa?
Maybe because 99% of the population are heterosexual?
Lisa is a bit thick
@David, How can 99% of the population be Heterosexual when 6% are Homosexual? That doesn’t make sense.
HINT: You’re wrong.
Just a figure of speech. I trust your stats are correct. So, whats the geographic distribution of the 6% ?
Possibly the dumbest comment I’ve ever read – anywhere!
Next year is the Centenary of the Rising.
Could they not tone down this shit in the interim as a mark of respect to the men and women who gave their lives for freedom and the creation of our Republic.
(and don’t give me any nonsense about the Centenary being a Rainbow event OK – just Don’t)
The leaders of the rising would most certainly not approve.
This shit? Isn’t this just a celebration of LGBT people’s new rights to be treated as equals? Did you not see the impact around the world of this referendum passing? Don’t be such a spa, “this shit”.
But it is bull shit , though .
@Daniel.
We’re celebrating the Rising. Not fumbling in Panti Bliss’s greasy till.
Mmmmmmm, You might want to do a little bit of history research there. If you think that. A number of the leaders of 1916. To use the phrase of the time. ” were real mens men.”
Daniel they are equal, we don’t need little rainbows painted on the ground to understand that.
It’s one way of commemorating the result of the referendum and the positive impact that it has had on civil rights in this country, or does somebody have to die before we put some something in place?
Besides – how do you know that some of the men and women who gave their lives would not approve? The odds are that a number of them would have been gay or lesbian.
I doubt that, perhaps the leaders of the rising against the odds had a great sense of humour and could see the funny side of these things.
“This would be good for tourism, good for culture and good for business. A number of tech multinationals had expressed an interest in funding them”
They didn’t give their lives for giant tax dodging global corporations to come in and exploit the citizens of this country for their own ends though did they?
I have heard it all now Paul. Celebrating an event that extended equality and freedom to marry for all Irish people while at the same time attracting baddeley need tourism is disrespectful to the celebration of the freedom for all the people. Why do you think the men of 1916 did not give their lives for the freedom of gay people to. How insulting to those men Paul. How insulting.
I heard if you walk on it and say Tom cruise 3x times you end up gay
I think this is unfair. LGBT folks get loads of Rainbow Walks. Bachelors all over the country should be outraged by this, seeing as we only got 1!!
Nah , tacky.
Not if they use glitter paint Diarmuid, then it’s SPARKLY and fab. :-)
I think this is ridiculous , no need for it . we’re all equal !
Some are more equal than others it would appear.
Yep , certainly looking that way alright
I’m so sick of all those straight pubs full of straight couples holding hands and ugh kissing. Can’t they just hide away?
Without a couple of them Lisa…you won’t be here.
Boom Al Ca, put down off the Year.. ! Oh….your Hetro your not normal. Absolute Nonsense idea
Lisa. You could always go to a gay pub so. They’ve been around since the 1980s’.
Lisa, I agree, I hate public displays of affection from ANY couple, what ever their preference.
Are you people for real or what? How is celebrating the anniversary of marriage equality and at the same time bringing in some badly needed tourists money make anyone else less equal Paul. What exactly is ridiculous about it Suzie? do you not want to see an increase in tourism?
If it’s for tourism in itself well then fine. I don’t object to it to be honest. I really don’t like the idea of having one outside Panti’s bar though. He’s done financially well enough out of this as is and by suggesting one happens outside his door reeks of cronyism and unfair advantage over other publicans and business owners.
stop calling panti a man or youll have larissa and lloyd on your case
At least Panti admits he’s just a bloke in a dress that uses a stage name. You would think by the offence people take on his behalf at calling him a he – in drag or otherwise, it was akin the inappropriateness of informally addressing the Queen of England. What a load of BS it truly is.
Niall It is yes about tourism in particular attracting gay tourists, hence having one outside panti bar would be appropriated as panti bar is a gay bar.
Derek I think you will find that larissa objects to transgender people being addressed by the wrong gender and not drag queens. You can hardly blame her with the amount of insultes she gets on here from the likes of tony kilduff and co who insist on calling her Larry . The same Tony Kilduff that refers to panti as a freak and a weirdo.
I’m all for marriage equality and i think these rainbow walks are great – in the Castro or in Sydney’s gay village or in Davie village in Vancouver at pride. HOWEVER, there is no suitable place to put them in Dublin, being ‘outside a gay bar’ is not reason enough to have a rainbow crossing, dublin does not have a gay village or district, 2 gay bars near each other does not a gay village make. The fact that outside Panties is a suggested location shows the lack of specific area of gay influence, would outside the dragon have been a suggested location? Probably, but it closed and is now set to become a wetherspoons, it doesn’t make sense to put one of these outside any gay bar that might spring up.
The idea is ill-thought-out, it doesn’t complement a distinctly lgbt influenced part of the city, because unfortunately this does not exist in Dublin. These work well in other cities, were areas have relevant significance to the LGBT community, many of whom live, work and socialise in the many gay owned establishments in the ‘Gay Village’ areas, but to place them in dublin city centre would be a false flag.
Maybe temporary rainbow crossings during pride month would be more suitable……Cue the Red thumbs!
Dublin doesn’t have a “gay district” because gay people are living among us and are not ghettoised. That’s a good thing.
Im not saying its not good, but its not necessarily a bad thing either, you can ask the LGBT community if they would like one or not.
What is strange though, dublin council introducing a ‘chinatown’ a fews years ago, all because a cluster of asian and international food places were located near each other, little or no cultural or historical significance to the chinese community in ireland, and no real significant chinese population resident in the area… So stranger things have happened
All getting to mucj now, really fed up, next up:
Gay only Governent
Gay trains/buses
Gays get priority all the time
Gays get higher wages
We do we stop….
Gays get extra spelling classes in primary school to teach us how to spell difficult words like “fabulous”, “glamorous”, “government” and “much”.
Once we are all finally equal they will suffer from depression due to lack of attention
Ya that’s right Paul now that the Dublin city council want to cash in on the referendum and use it to bring in some cash from tourism we are going to take over the world. And people think gay people are drama queens.
At least it solves one legend.
There was a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
And Panti Blliss is sitting on it.
well played.
In your face or what ?
What a load of crap. More disruption for nothing.
Two of the paths lead to private businesses , will other city businesses be allowed similar marketing?
Think this idea is crazy. Gay people when new to an area are just as capable of reading street signs and researching online maps as everyone else. How do I know this? I am one!
I’m all for gay rights but seriously f. off with your rainbow walks. You will offend colour blind people
Every Junkie in the City will love this.
‘Need a bag a gear?’ ‘ Go oop to de coloroud lines man. The coloured lines.’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdTgsJneSt0
Great idea. They are in loads of capital cities.
What’s great about it
Loads of capital cities have gay villages though, they are only found in the gay districts of the city. Dublin doesnt have that. Maybe have temporary ones during pride week?
Yes capital cities with a much bigger population than we have.
“What’s great about it” let me think. Will it bring more tourism to dublin? Well that’s the plan anyway.
I’m all for gay people having equal rights but for this kind of carry on I’d have to say no,no and no.
Well it will be colourful if noting else.
How about spending the money instead to house homeless families. DCC really have no interest in homelessness but spending as much money as possible to give friends projects and make sure their own families are safe and sound.
Just put one going right through the Phoenix Park and be done with it. You can also rename Chesterfield Avenue Emmet Stagg Way.
Apparently if you walk on these rainbow walkways you turn gay.
I just want to know, where did they get tins of striped paint from. Looked in Woodies and couldn’t find any.
All this Gay stuff is getting out of hand!
Bad ideabtbh, the ‘gay walk’ will end up like a safari trail for queer bashes.
This is just getting embarrassing at this stage
The rainbow pedestrian crossing does not appear in the rules of the road, if stuck for time i may plough through irrespective of sexual preference.
I love dublin but it is not Sydney or san Francisco….there are moor pressing users that monet can be put to use on here that some rainbow flags on the streets. Maybe some local policing to keep tourists and locals safe?
I can see the idea behind it, attract more gay tourists, but it looks very tacky.
Yup, Dame street has some amazing architecture, to put something so tacky on the street is just ridiculous. I have no idea how they’ll be a boost for tourism.
What about all our American tourists? Imagine how disgusted they’ll be when there’s no pot of gold at the end of these walk ways!!
…no – just a crock of shit!
Loads of cities have these, its paint, wont make a difference to your life, get over it, its not gonna cost much at all, i do agree it wont look as well in a run down city like Dublin.
Yes exactly, it’s paint! so why bother doing it in the first place?
Also Conor, you obviously haven’t been to many capital cities if you think Dublin is run down. You should get a passport bud.
Less is more, we are starting to denormalise our gay brethren by turning them into a novelty act just to show how trendy we have become.
have your say