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.
THE WEATHER FOR St Patrick’s Day is looking wet and windy, with not much improvement for the weekend ahead.
This morning starts cloudy with scattered outbreaks of rain but becoming brighter during the afternoon with highest temperatures of up to 11 degrees.
Tonight will be cold with lowest temperatures of just 2 degrees and rain in western counties.
St Patrick’s Day will be cloudy and windy with rain developing through much of Connacht and northwest Ulster.
Met Eireann says the rain will become widespread and heavy across the country in the afternoon and will continue to persist into the evening.
Saturday will stay cloudy with scattered outbreaks of rain and highest temperatures of up to 12 degrees.
Sunday will continue wet and windy with cloudy outbreaks of rain and highest temperatures of up to 13 degrees.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
How times have changed. Fair play, looked like everyone had fun.
It really makes me proud of our country to see how far we’ve moved forward in such a relatively short space of time. Go us.
@FlyingDogThing: Said the same myself. I was in town today and you couldn’t not like the fanfair and colour of it all. Great fun altogether!
Incredible photos! Well done to the organisers and everybody who took part in such an amazing display of love, tolerance and diversity….have a good night ;)
@The Risen: is a very apt handle for commenting here. Is it not Risen.
@wacker macker: what a crude and vulgar comment.
Hope they picked up after themselves, disgraceful mess they left last year.
@Charles McGuire: that tends to happen after a mass gathering.
@Charles McGuire: same happened in Phoenix Park after the Pope, although less people went to see the pope than attended pride this year
@Chip Collins: it means hell looks much better craic than heaven
@Chip Collins: the irony of your avatar isn’t lost on me. I hope you get the joke and it’s not unintentional
@Chip Collins: for littering? Wow, driving more good catholic’s away from the church with your hate. Good women yourself Chip!!
Growing up in the 70s the grey, poverty stricken Catholicism obsessed republic was a cold, uncaring and scary place for us LGBT citizens. Fast forward 40 years and a charged country exists that has embraced the 21st century and is now a beacon to people who are still unlucky enough to live in places far worse than Ireland was in the 1970s
@Daragh Harmon: funny that…. I went to mass for many years and I never heard any priest say anything about it not being a good thing to hate gay people. The church in this country was the great moral swingdicator for decades… no more thank goodness
@Marc Power: well I went to mass as I said for 40 years and never felt any hidden messages etc to hate gay people.
@Daragh Harmon: That’s because it doesn’t exist in the mind set! How can you acknowledge sex between two males or two females when it doesn’t exist in the doctrine of the religion, no more than child abuse does!
@Daragh Harmon: perhaps looking at the greater picture would help?…. after all churches were only the messengers
@Marc Power: The Church was founded by Jesus Christ our lord and saviour, his teachings passed on from apostles etc etc. That I would say is the bigger picture.
@Daragh Harmon: that’s your interpretation if your reality. It doesn’t apply to all if us yet for centuries it dictated all our lives…. thank goodness those days have passed
@Daragh Harmon: The messages aren’t hidden. They are pretty clear if you read catholic doctrine. Protests don’t include it in their sermons as many don’t agree and it wouldn’t go down well anyway
@Dow Dubrov: thats because those churches decided to interpret scripture to suit themselves to be relevent. The Catholic church is not here to be hip or cool. The church will always be counter culture. The church is not interested in being trendy or cool. Its only interested in getting souls to heaven.
@Daragh Harmon: you obviously weren’t at the mass just two weeks ago when the priest said that gay people were like zombies and the only way to deal with zombies was a bullet in the head.
@Daragh Harmon: Quite the opposite I think. The church has adapted with culture over the centuries and the teachings have changed quite a bit to make this happen.
@Ger: No I wasn’t at that mass but I read comments on the journal regularly painting the Catholic church and all its priests as evil perverts and wishing it destroyed.
@Daragh Harmon: I haven’t read those comments as being directed at ‘all its priests’, only the ones who rape children.
@Marc Power:
Don’t worry, Christians don’t hate you, it’s just your way of life is not part of our beliefs.
@Candace: phew…I fell so much better now
@The Risen: are you tolerant of Catholics and those of the Catholic faith?
@The Risen: Well I have read plenty of comments painting the church as evil and wanting its destruction. As I said the church is counter culture and has faced many challenges and ideologies over the centuries and is still here as Jesus said And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
@Daragh Harmon: was that before or after the church whitewashed women’s position in the gospels and Peter got on board with the Roman Empires version of what a state religion should be – The catholic church is an abomination and probably the furthest thing from Jesus Christ’s teachings – that Is not to say that there isn’t many good people within the rotten borough trying to do their best- but how any educated person can follow the teachings of the RC church given its history is beyond me – grab a gospel of St Thomas and chill out dude
@Thomas Harrington:
https://www.catholic.com/qa/why-isnt-the-gospel-of-thomas-in-the-bible
@Daragh Harmon: I have never read a comment on the journal or elsewhere where said that “all priests were perverts” Are you sure you’re not making that up? If not kindly link that article. Yes lots of people have criticised the church as an organisation, and rightly so. It covered up and continues to cover up for the many abuses committed by their clergy. But don’t make stuff up. And try to see the difference between people campaigning for equality and acceptance for all and the Catholic Church who openly campaigned for gay people to continue being 2nd class citizens. Equality = good, inequality = bad. Its not rocket science.
@Thomas Harrington:
You should maybe know what you’re on about before posting about something you know nothing about.
@Ger: “the Catholic church campaigned for gay people to be second class citizens” are you serious!. The Catholic church has teachings on marriage based on scripture, what our lord preached and what his apostles preached and passed on through the centuries by tradition etc etc. 10 of the apostles were murdered for preaching about our lord and his teachings. Countless others were also murdered for following christ. Today Christians are the most persecuted group in the world. You are correct humans are weak, some people in the church were weak were evil every organization has good and bad in it. However if you want happiness true happiness go to mass except Jesus as your lord and saviour.
@Daragh Harmon: Just ouyt of curiosity. Have you read other doctrines of religious beliefs?
I tried the bible as an audio book but found it extremely difficult to digest, not just because of the incredible contradictions of it’s stories but also how it’s timeline is fractured and out of order.
I listened to a bit of the story of Mohamad too which flows better in terms of the timeline but I would swear that if you changed the names of the characters in the stories to Peter, Paul, Thomas etc…. that you could easily tell them as part of bible stories.
Not that there was anyone in that part of the world named Peter, Paul or Thomas so obviously there was some switcheroo by the Catholic Church back in the day…
Point being that all religions are mostly the same in believing in some form of God or higher power that we should be trying to connect to and translate that experience to the next generations to help them through this miracle we call existence…
In my view, we all need to connect with the source, common nature, stardust but God ain’t some dude in the clouds, God is definitely non binary… And we definitely don’t know what God actually is, bar the bit that exists in all of us. I like to think of God as being, the big bang, space, time, galaxies, atoms, quantum bits, evolution etc…
I think there is probably a lot of truth in the messages in the bible, written by the greatest scholars of that time but I highly doubt that the stories are anything other than an interpretation of what people believe to be God… I think it’s a much more interesting journey to try and figure out for yourself if there is a God but without the constraints of the translations of earlier humans…
@Joeber Wallace: And just to add, I’m a straight heterosexual sapien, I was raised in a non religious household but I chose to be baptised a few weeks before my first holy communion as everyone else in my class was doing it and I knew that it was my first payday to buy a second hand bmx bike.
My eldest daughter made her first communion this year, we don’t talk much about God in our household but she is being taught in school and when she talks about God there is something very pure about her belief in the concept of God and it’s nice for her.
I think I’ll leave it for her to decide what she believes.
@Daragh Harmon: rubbish, it’s a brainwashing cult
@Joeber Wallace: Joeber I am no theologian so can I give you a list of books that can help distinguish between different religions an apso help with Catholic church teachings.
https://blessedisshe.net/the-blog/10-great-books-for-converts/
Can I also recommend “stunned by scripture how the bible brought me home” by Dr bergsma. I have only read a couple of the books above in the linls above. If you need answers to questions go to Catholic answers, look at their website you question may have been answered or you can sak a question. Can I say pray go to mass. talk to a priest. God bless.
@The Risen: Never miss a chance do you? Change the record son.
@Daragh Harmon: lucky you, born into a country that has the “right god” not where they have them makey uppy ones. Stroke of luck that.
@chinaski: I was born in Ireland. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The word of God spread I guess. Thank God.
@Marc Power: Hi Mark. Looks like my first reply to you was deleted.
@Daragh Harmon: That is 2000 years of Church history reduced to a purile statement. What you call the bigger picture is the pathetic attempt of an apologist to assuage his own conscience. Add your prayer to shivering prayer and feel the walls close in on you.
@Joeber Wallace: You might have something there because in the Bible, JC didn’t do religion at all. He didn’t like priests or dogma. The RC got it wrong but that’s because it was set up as a political thing, but if people are happy with it …
@Daragh Harmon: yes I am serious! Marriage equality is one. Gay people adopting is another. You can talk about their teachings all you like, because that’s their excuse. They have used biblical teachings to surpress gay people, women, unmarried mothers, treated their babies as commodities rather than people. They have used and they still use their teachings and cannon law to protect child abusers. Do you want me to go on? Because I can. If a religion treats some people as less than then there is something wrong with that religion.
@Daragh Harmon: just because it’s not in the bible doesn’t mean you can’t read it! “Whomeoever shall interpret these sayings shall not taste death”
@Daragh Harmon: and I dont accept Jesus as anything because he doesn’t exist. I stopped believing in fairy tails when I was a child and I am very happy in my life. I don’t feel the need to pit down people who were born different to me, and if your Lord and saviour says we should then he is an a-hole.
@Candace: sorry omnipotent one didn’t realize you know all would you like me to list the signs of the RC church for you or perhaps you can just enlighten yourself by reading something?
@Daragh Harmon: if it’s all based on Jesus and the apostles why is the Old Testament still a thing? Follow up question, while it’s still a thing why is it that almost half of its rules are no longer enforced? When did Jesus say it was OK to work on Sundays? Or touch the skin of a dead pig? Or eat shellfish? Or wear clothes made from two different cloths? Or grow two different crops side by side?
@Denis McClean: Ironically, the little bit I know about Jesus and co was that we should not idolise profits as God is everywhere, in everything, meaning that we are God as much as anything else…
Yet the church preaches and promotes the idolising of a single character above all else and tells us to be like him instead of just being ourselves and if we don’t follow his rules then we all go to hell with our original sin…
Through my fault, through my fault, through my own grievous fault…
@Daragh Harmon: Thanks for the recommendations but to be honest, I will stick with modern day prophets that I think, help me to be a better person in this modern world.
Joe Rogan, Russell Brand, Simon Harris, Jordan Peterson just to name a few… And not forgetting myself and what I believe about the nature of God…
@Joeber Wallace:
How could you put Russell Brand in the same category as Jordan Peterson, are you high?
@Daragh Harmon: no one gives a S about church or your corrupt religion mate, jog on.
Fair play to the 2 dogs for coming out tho in fairness cant be easy, respect
@Jason: hope they didn’t have too ruff a time of it.
@Michael Flanagan: at least one person liked it thanks bro Haha
Fantastic day!
Well organized fair play to everyone hope they enjoyed it
All negative comments deleted. We know who runs the Journal.
@wacker macker:
Let me guess. George Soros and the Reptile Lizard people?
@wacker macker:
Let me guess. George Soros and the Reptile Lizard people?
@wacker macker:
Let me guess. George Soros and the Reptile Lizard people?
@Geoff Dolan:
Tourettes?
I’m beginning to think that the whole pride thing is having the opposite effect to what it’s meant to do . Reading the comments on here it’s obvious that many people resent having the whole thing pushed in their faces . Personally i think it turning more people against gays then accepting gays .
@John Smith: expressing your opinion like that won’t sit well on this thread…
@John Smith: Many people? What, the same 5 or 6 people with multiple accounts? If you think the Journal comments section is an indication of people turning against LGBT people then you need your fkin head examined.
@John Smith: and that might seem like an honest assessment to anyone unused to your usual servings of tripe on here but the rest of us know it’s not.
Yawn
@Eamon: ooh, what a deep throat you have!
@Matt Connolly: I’m gay
@Eamon: then get your sexy lil a** downtown and cele like the rest of us hun!
Whatever people do that is their own business, But how dare that guy in the photo depicting our patron St Patrick as a flamboyant gay man wearing a hot pants!! There is always one over the top culprit in these gatherings, looking for controversy to upset people , yet crib and moan about the slightest thing that they don’t appreciate. Please removed this photo from the post .
@Ronan O’ Brien: If misrepresentation upsets you maybe you should start helping the church be rid of all the depictions of Jesus as a white man.
Delighted everyone had a good time!
Bit too corporate this year but sure everyone wants those virtue points for the brand nowdays.
Our old holy priests and christian brothers – would be mortified. But not as much as their victims – were humiliated…
@Alonzo Margate: there’s always one.
@Alonzo Margate: You need to chill a bit
@Tweety McTweeter: Yes, all our clerics welcomed gay people as their own. And didn’t deny that their employees (some, but many) were paedophiles. Google is your friend – try Comiskey/Fortune for a brief introduction.
@Alonzo Margate: wrong time wrong place bud. Pride flags outside churches. Move on and embrace the new Ireland.
@Alonzo Margate: were any of these clerics gay or were they all straight.
@Daragh Harmon: Twisted maybe – like Sean Fortune and his mates?
@Alonzo Margate: twisted straight or twisted gay?
@Alonzo Margate:
Twisted opportunist sadists they were, but if they had a fancy for boys, wouldn’t that make them gay?
@Daragh Harmon: Who knows what paedophiles such as Fortune were – mad or just doing as their colleagues were!?
@Alonzo Margate: straight colleagues or gay colleagues?
@Daragh Harmon: you seem to be absolutely intent on linking homosexuality to paedophilia. Just shows up your discussion on the church being based on the teachings of christ for what it was, absolute crap. Then again, wasn’t Mary 12 when she gave birth to Jesus? If you think the teachings of Christ put the reputation of the church ahead of children then you’re no Christian
@Dave O’Keeffe: what was the life expectancy for a woman at that time?
It was the best organised Pride in a long time. Well done to those in charge. Easily the biggest in terms of numbers also. Having the music stage inside the park as opposed to the road outside like it was when it was in Merrion Square before was great. It kept people together and there was still enough space to spread out if like me you don’t like being confined. Well done all.
It was an absolutely fantastic day! Everyone was in great mood, smiling, laughing and full of joy and colour.
The atmosphere was wonderful.
Happy pride everyone
Another perspective:
“Russia has “very relaxed attitude towards the LGBT community, we aren’t biased against them,” but the minority must not aggressively disseminate its views among minors who may not be able to decide on their own, he told reporters.
’6 or 5 genders… no idea what that even is’: Putin says LGBT should not enforce their agenda on kids
“Let’s give children an opportunity to grow up and decide afterwards who they want to be. Leave them alone,” Putin urged.”
@Raymond Westlake: who is trying to convert kids to homosexuality?
@Raymond Westlake: Many LGBT+ people are literally hunted to death in Russia. That’s a warped, ignorant, dangerous and sad opinion that Putin has.
Without a bin truck and tractors is it even a real parade?
@Feargal Molloy: thee was a tractor a good ól Massey Ferguson all done out in colors of pride so suppose its now a real parade
A great day was had by all. Just as it should be.
I am overcome with joy every time I see the catholic church/state made a little bit more irrelevant and an old icon that has lost its magnetism. Ireland is a better place because of it.
@Elizabeth Gregory: or perhaps Ireland is simply moving from one extreme to another. I can’t see how a man publicly parading in a thong is a positive message for children. Are some people above the law when it comes to public decency, just as the Catholic Church were above the law in their treatment of us not so long ago?
Mental illness
@shepherd: you can get help for it.
Perhaps Ireland is simply moving from one extreme to another. I can’t see how a man publicly parading in a thong is a positive message for children. Are some people above the law when it comes to public decency, just as the Catholic Church were above the law in their treatment of us not so long ago?
PS 5,4,3,2,1… waiting for this legitimate opinion to be diluted by the ‘faux journalism’ Journal like so many other commenters with a questioning perspective that doesn’t fit in with this narrative.
@Raymond Westlake: men wear speedos on beaches, women wear minuscule bikinis on beaches where hundreds of children are. But I suppose because they’re assumed to be hetero that it’s all good?
First pic. Gorgeous looking chick leading the way..
@M: really? You wearing beer googles ?
@M: yes, she is gorgeous looking chick……..for a man.
If you ever go to Thailand, stay away from the ladyboys.
@Teresa Ryan: I always do ( stay away from the ladyboys that is)
Not that I’ve ever been to Thailand.
According to Vladimir Putin, “Russia has “very relaxed attitude towards the LGBT community, we aren’t biased against them,” but the minority must not aggressively disseminate its views among minors who may not be able to decide on their own, he told reporters. “Let’s give children an opportunity to grow up and decide afterwards who they want to be. Leave them alone,” Putin urged
‘Leave kids alone & let them grow up’: Putin says LGBT groups should not enforce their views
@Raymond Westlake: Oh right, Putin is now a man of honour? You should watch Reggie Yeates the hunted. Might open that minuscule mind of yours as to what is happening LGBT+ people in Russia.
They were all bused in from abroad, the buses were piled up all going to and from the airport! Fact! Whole city was on lock down…
@Anne Novan: oh right, it must be true if you say so and when you say… Fact!
If tommorow never comes
These photo’s just go to show how f**ked up this country has come..You have arsehole politicians dancing like idiots in the street while you have 000s of homeless,Billions in cost overruns at the NCH,further billions being wasted on the NBP and every other national scandal and Leo’s response is “Everything is Okay because we’re F**kin gay” makes me sick.
@Hugh Jarce: when did Leo say that?
@Hugh Jarce: you make a valid point there.
I think this might be something to do with band wagons?
And certain people jumping on them?
I HOPE THE CLERGY WERE REPRESENTED THERE’S ENOUGH OF THEM GAY
@Tom Ryan: jeez! Will you please tone down the big screamy capital letters?
An absolute disgrace that the Garda Siochana should be involved in an official capacity in an issue that is highly divisive. As an organisation that is funded by the taxpayer it has a responsibility to remain strictly neutral and treat equally all opinions on a particular issue. As it was their presence amounts to a one-sided political statement. The minister and Garda Commissioner are well aware that almost three quarters of a million people voted against same-sex marriage in the 2015 referendum so their direction that the Garda Siochana take part in this parade in an official capacity is a deliberate insult to those voters.
@jet2000: There is nothing that implores the Gardai from participating in Pride. There are gay members of An Garda Siochana. They are real people. The minister and Garda are well aware that over 1.2million voted for marriage equality. They’re supporting their LGBT friends, colleagues, brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews in defiance of the oppressive opposition you and your ilk espouse on a daily basis.
Pnsi in uniform in the republic?
have your say