Cathaoirleach John Paul Feeley along with CAMRY volunteer Saffron Mitchell raised the PRIDE flag at Cavan Courthouse on Friday morning. At the event were front (from left): Emma Lynn, Teach Oscail Family Resource Centre; Ste Corrigan, CYPSC; Leanne Coyle, Teach Oscail Family Resource Centre; Grainne Boyle, Community Enterprise Social & Inclusion Unit, Cavan County Council; Pauric Hand, Youth Development Officer, CAMRY and Una Rudden, Youth Services, Cavan Monaghan ETB; back, Brendan Jennings, Director of Services, Cavan County Council; Cllr Peter McVitty (FG); Saffron Mitchell, volunteer CAMRY; Cathaoirleach John Paul Feely (FF); Cllr Carmel Brady (FG); Cllr Patricia Walsh (FF); Deirdre Donnelly, Social Inclusion Officer, Cavan County Council and Sharon Casey, volunteer CAMRY and social worker TUSLA. Photo: Lorraine Teevan

Celebrating LGBTQIA+ Pride Week

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Cathaoirleach John Paul Feeley, Cavan County Council and Saffron Mitchell, volunteer with Cavan and Monaghan Rainbow Youth, raised the Rainbow flag at Cavan Courthouse to mark Pride Week 2022.

The flag raising took place last Friday, June 24.

The Rainbow Flag is a symbol of inclusion and acceptance and will be flown during Pride Week to show solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community and open discussion on the issues that they are facing.

Pride is a celebration of the sexual diversity of people living in an area. While it is the festival of the LGBTQI+ community, it’s a wonderful time for people from all backgrounds to join together to celebrate and support their LGBTQIA+ friends and colleagues. As well as being a celebration of the community and their achievements, Pride also highlights inequalities that continue in society and the persecution of LGBTQIA+ people across the globe.

Joining the Cathaoirleach at the flag raising ceremony were Brendan Jennings, Director of Services, Cavan County Council; Pauric Hand, LGBTI+ youth development worker, Cavan and Monaghan Rainbow Youth; Ste Corrigan, CYPSC co-ordinator; Una Rudden, Youth Services, Cavan Monaghan ETB; volunteers with CAMRY, elected members of Cavan County Council and staff from the Social Inclusion Unit of Cavan County Council.

Pauric Hand from CAMRY explained that people often ask him why pride marches and flag raising ceremonies are still needed as there are more many rights now especially since the Equality Referendum in 2015. Pauric noted that, while this may be true in part for some people, for others the reality can be somewhat different.

Members of the LGBTQIA community can still feel unsafe and are often targeted for their gender identity and intersectionality. He pointed to the murders earlier this year of two gay men in Sligo and explained that hate crimes are part of the reason that we need to celebrate Pride in our communities. Nelson Mandela said: "To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

This is key in respecting and supporting intersectional movements in modern Ireland.

auric welcomed Cavan County Council’s raising of the Pride Flag at the Courthouse in Cavan to mark Pride week 2022 and thanked the Chief Executive and elected members for their support.

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