‘We need Pride more than ever now': Solidarity and celebration at Cork Pride parade

Irish Examiner

5 hours ago

The Pride movement is needed now more than ever, the 2025 Cork Pride parade heard amid mounting concerns that hard-won rights are being eroded.
Organisers of the Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival issued the rallying call on Sunday as an estimated 5,000 people marched in or watched the colourful parade, and its giant rainbow flag, wind its way through the city to the Party at the Port — the climax of the week-long Pride festival, which had as its theme, 'A fearless future'.
Damian O'Halloran, vice chair of Cork Pride, said the theme is not just a statement — it's a rhetorical question.
'Can we really have a fearless future, when around the world we are watching the hard-won rights of our communities being stripped away?' he asked.
Cork City Council staff and friends at the 2025 Cork Pride Parade on Sunday.
'So today, we gather not just in celebration, but in solidarity. We gather to say: We will not be silent. We will not be afraid. And we will not be erased.'
He praised those previous campaigning generations, and those who marched on Sunday.
'Because showing up is an act of courage. And in doing so, you're helping shape what a fearless future truly looks like,' he said.
Speaking to the Irish Examiner after the parade, Mr O'Halloran said progress has been made but added: 'A lot of bullies now have a voice, they are standing up because they are not afraid anymore and when you see leaders across the globe demonstrating rhetoric like that, people aren't afraid anymore to say what they want because there is no sanction.
"It's about policy, and that starts with the leadership of the country.'
Lisa Lynch, Linda O'Mahony, and Kelly and Aisling O'Sullivan from Glanmire enjoying the Party at the Port on Kennedy Quay after the 2025 Cork Pride Parade on Sunday.
Denise Boyle, chair of Cork Pride, said the community has to keep marching.
'My message to young people here today is to be happy with who you are, and know that there is lots of support out there for you — don't struggle by yourself,' she said.
Diarmuid Scully, a member of UCC's LGBT staff network, said that homophobia thrived in the past by dividing people, and making them afraid.
Staff from Apple and their families at the 2025 Cork Pride Parade at the Grand Parade, Cork City, on Sunday.
'This sends out a massive signal to people that there is a community here, young and old, and that they are not on their own,' he said.
'There is a very cold wind blowing outside of Ireland. I think it will reach here in some form or another. Social media is the real terrifying thing because it allows 24-hour bullying.
Lord Mayor Fergal Dennehy and Lady Mayoress Karen Brennan leading the 2025 Cork Pride Parade on Sunday.
'The fact that the Pride slogan this year is 'a fearless future' tells its own story, and the theme of Pride in Belfast last week was 'never going back'.
'If you have to have slogans like that, it tells you there is something to fight against but that we will win against it.'
Minister of State Jerry Buttimer, who came out as Fine Gael's first gay TD in 2012, said the community, and country has come a long way, with a new generation of people marching, but that people cannot be complacent.
'It's about holding the rights we have and ensuring that people are free to be who they are,' he said.
Margarita O'Regan and Emma Clifford walking their dogs at the 2025 Cork Pride Parade on Sunday.
Eimear McNally, 18, who is part of that new generation, said showing support for the rights won by the campaigners of the past, and keeping that support 'strong and present', is very important — especially today.
'People can be afraid to show real solidarity with tough causes right now and this is a day where everyone can express what they want to,' she said.
Eurovision Fanclub president Frank Dermody at the 2025 Cork Pride Parade on Sunday.
Nick Murphy, a member of the inclusive GAA club Na Laochra Aeracha, said the rise of homophobia is inevitable, given the rise of the far right across the world, and the echo chambers that exist on social media.
'This is why Pride needs to be. As long as people think like that, Pride will always be necessary,' he said.
Claire Flynn, of Mammies for Trans Rights, said their group was founded because of concerning rhetoric from some places.
'We didn't want our children standing up and being front and centre, because we were afraid for their safety, so we said, as parents, we can stand up in front of them until it's safe enough for them to stand up,' she said.