Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
PA Archive / Press Association Images
PA Archive / Press Association Images / Press Association Images
THIS MORNING, FORMER Fianna Fáil minister Pat Carey spoke out about his sexuality on RTÉ Radio One, saying he never had the “courage or confidence” to do it before.
Speaking to Sean O’Rourke, the 67-year-old said that hearing Leo Varadkar’s radio interview last month inspired him to take the plunge.
I said that if I got the opportunity – I said it to myself, I didn’t say it to anybody else – that maybe my perspective might be helpful to other people of my age.
Many people are tweeting their support for Carey – here are just a few of the reactions to his announcement.
Some people congratulated him on coming out at 67
Whoops!
We couldn't find this Tweet
Really touching to hear a public figure of that generation talk about finally feeling confident enough to say "I'm gay." #Patcarey
Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article.
Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.
I dealt with Pat when we were attempting to set up a special needs class in a school in his constituency. Brilliant to deal with and he gave real practical help (you know the kind you actually need). I couldn’t speak highly enough about the man. I understand his reasons for coming out but Pat doesn’t have to explain himself to anyone. Decent guy, I wish him well.
That’s a rubbish statement Andrew. Carey spoke about his personal life today don’t get confused he sat around the cabinet table that made decisions that now effect you every time you get paid . Thank Pat and his cohort for USC . Pat Rabbite was dead right to tell him he should have been ashamed of himself and what his political career contributed to, nothing to do with what he does in his own time/life.
I don’t think it is a ‘rubbish statement’. I think you have here two old men who, at one point were locked in ‘combat’. But look at both of them now. Don’t you find it worth reflecting on their respective fates for a few moments?
Ok here goes …… I’M STRAIGHT! Straight as an arrow, they call me Tony the straight guy. and I make no apologies to anyone for being straight. Now I’ve done it. No turning back now …
I’m delighted that a man of his generation (not too far behind), can now feel comfortable about his sexuality…hopefully soon this will not be an issue of any significance, and I will deffo be voting in favour of same sex marriage…just a little tired of it all at the mo.
Well bully for him he has certainly got the sympathy vote all right, he is in a very lucky position that he will never have to talk to his children on Skype every week or look at pictures of his grandchildren growing up in some other country. For me he is the same as all of our members of Dáil Éireann over the past 20 years on every side of the house, lowlife and corrupt worse than any drug dealers. He was part of a corrupt outfit that have destroyed the future of many citizens of this country. I wish him well in the future but I also wish that he and the rest of his party members stayed at the job they were trained for, It would a big step forward for the people of this country if their elected representatives had some training in polities and not teachers, hurlers, footballers and tax dodgers.
erm… Ok.
All of our members of Dail Eireann for the past 20 years are worse than drug dealers?
You are stunningly stupid. How long have you been against democracy?
You would vote for this guy now cos he is gay. That’s a bit narrow minded considering he voted yes to drive this country into it’s worst recession ever. Nobody should ever vote for this person gay or not cos of his past performances.
Fair play to him – he grew up in a different generation – I have no political affiliation but you can’t tar everybody with the same brush as regards the recession
Come on, you’re not still blaming FF 100% for property / banking collapse!
It was just one player in a large team of cheerleaders for the wild party to keep on rolling. Anyone crying halt then was a party pooper, a spoilsport, a killjoy and anyway, wasn’t there going to be a soft landing. That was the thinking up to 2007 – the dreaded herd mentality and all that shyte. It is always hard to stop a stampeding herd!
Market forces, way too easy access to finance, poor quality banking regulation – both EU and Irish, were all contributors to crash of 2008, not any specific action or inaction of one political party.
Sure Governments are only passing through, on their five- year jaunt to next General Election.
The permanent Government – the Civil Service – no doubt has learnt the hard lessons, for no repeat performance in the future.
It was a black swan event. Fg got voted in, promised to renege the Ff actions. Could not. Will not. SF promise the same thing. Can not. Will not. Books have to be balanced. This is not monopoly.
I’m becoming confused. Has Mr Carey got anything to do with Fifty Shades of Grey? Otherwise why would there be so many threads arising from a single interview?
What a great decision to share one’s feelings with the country and such warm and respectful comments. A great day for all as we move to a more inclusive and loving society. Met Pat at events in Dublin 9 a gentleman and a hard community worker, all the best for the future.
Mother and son face losing home after change to tenants scheme
1 hr ago
10.4k
Áras An Uachtaráin
134 members of the Oireachtas say they will not nominate McGregor for the presidency
14 hrs ago
37.3k
137
Your Cookies. Your Choice.
Cookies help provide our news service while also enabling the advertising needed to fund this work.
We categorise cookies as Necessary, Performance (used to analyse the site performance) and Targeting (used to target advertising which helps us keep this service free).
We and our 161 partners store and access personal data, like browsing data or unique identifiers, on your device. Selecting Accept All enables tracking technologies to support the purposes shown under we and our partners process data to provide. If trackers are disabled, some content and ads you see may not be as relevant to you. You can resurface this menu to change your choices or withdraw consent at any time by clicking the Cookie Preferences link on the bottom of the webpage .Your choices will have effect within our Website. For more details, refer to our Privacy Policy.
We and our vendors process data for the following purposes:
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
Cookies Preference Centre
We process your data to deliver content or advertisements and measure the delivery of such content or advertisements to extract insights about our website. We share this information with our partners on the basis of consent. You may exercise your right to consent, based on a specific purpose below or at a partner level in the link under each purpose. Some vendors may process your data based on their legitimate interests, which does not require your consent. You cannot object to tracking technologies placed to ensure security, prevent fraud, fix errors, or deliver and present advertising and content, and precise geolocation data and active scanning of device characteristics for identification may be used to support this purpose. This exception does not apply to targeted advertising. These choices will be signaled to our vendors participating in the Transparency and Consent Framework.
Manage Consent Preferences
Necessary Cookies
Always Active
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Store and/or access information on a device 110 partners can use this purpose
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development 143 partners can use this purpose
Use limited data to select advertising 113 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Create profiles for personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Use profiles to select personalised advertising 83 partners can use this purpose
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Create profiles to personalise content 39 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Use profiles to select personalised content 35 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Measure advertising performance 134 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Measure content performance 61 partners can use this purpose
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources 74 partners can use this purpose
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Develop and improve services 83 partners can use this purpose
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Use limited data to select content 37 partners can use this purpose
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
Use precise geolocation data 46 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Actively scan device characteristics for identification 27 partners can use this special feature
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Ensure security, prevent and detect fraud, and fix errors 92 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Deliver and present advertising and content 99 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Match and combine data from other data sources 72 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Link different devices 53 partners can use this feature
Always Active
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Identify devices based on information transmitted automatically 88 partners can use this feature
Always Active
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
Save and communicate privacy choices 69 partners can use this special purpose
Always Active
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say