Pride was simply fantastic.
The colours on the street of Dublin for the Pride Parade were a sight to behold. The sun was shining and there was no rain in sight but yet the city was like one big rainbow.
There were many faces in the crowd but there was one who drew a lot of attention, that of current Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, who made history by standing on the Dublin Pride stage after being the first Taoiseach to march as part of the Pride Festival.
While he was on stage addressing the 30,000 people who took part in the event on Saturday in Dublin, the Taoiseach promised that he would spend his tenure in office advancing LGBT rights.
From everyone in Fine Gael, Happy Pride! 🏳️🌈 #Pride2017 #DublinPride pic.twitter.com/AdzSAtN4uc
— Fine Gael (@FineGael) June 24, 2017
According to RTÉ, CEO of Belong To, Moninne Griffith, was the Grand Marshall, while the Taoiseach, who is the country’s first openly gay head of Government, travelled near the front of the parade.
Addressing the crowd, Mr Varadkar said:
“I pledge as Taoiseach to use my office, for as long as I hold it, to advance the cause of LGBT rights, to press for marriage equality across Ireland, to speak up for LGBT rights around the world where they are under attack, and to push for the implementation of the sexual health strategy here at home at a time when it is more important than ever.
“I don’t think my election as Taoiseach actually made history, it just reflected it, reflected the enormous changes that had already occurred in our country.
“So, I don’t think that I have changed things for you; I think people like you have changed things for me,” said Mr Varadkar.
