Our Pride, Our Future is the theme of a Pride festival to take place in Tipperary

  Clonmel Community Pride is delighted to announce that the Clonmel Pride Festival 2025 will take place on Saturday July 19.

The day will start at 10.30 with the pride breakfast and will be followed with a march welcome at the library,  with  the march taking off from Gordon Street car park.

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There will be music, entertainment, and market stalls at Kickham Plaza, Dillon Street.

The day starts with Pride Breakfast at Clonmel Library where we welcome everyone to gather, socialise, and kick off the festival. Light refreshments will be provided.

All supporters of LGBTQ+ rights are invited to gather at Gordon Street car park from 12:00. Clonmel Pride’s march through the town will begin at 13:00 sharp, starting at Gordon Street and ending at the Plaza, Dillon Street. An Garda Síochána will manage traffic along the Pride march route to ensure everyone’s safety. Minimal disruption to traffic is expected; we thank motorists in advance for their patience and understanding. All are welcome to march or cheer from the sidelines.

Following the Pride march, join us for an afternoon of celebration, community-building and inclusivity at Kickham Barracks Plaza. Expect live entertainment from local talent and national LGBTQ artists including Eddie McGuinness, Vicky Volltz and Lucina Shynning, community speeches, food by local vendors and stalls run by small businesses, and much more. A quiet area facilitated by Neuro Pride Ireland will be available at the Plaza for anyone to use during the event.

All events on the day are free of charge and appropriate for all ages.

Clonmel Pride would like to extend a sincere invitation to all community members, LGBTQ allies, and local groups to join us on the day. This is Clonmel’s 6th Pride festival and it continues to grow each year with your support. Individuals and families are welcome to join at any time during the day. We encourage businesses to show their support with rainbow flags in their windows or displays.

By participating you are showing your commitment to a community that supports and celebrates everyone. LGBTQ+ allies are absolutely critical to our success, and we hope all our friends, family and community come out to celebrate and march with us on this day.

Theme - Our Pride, Our Future
The theme of our festival this year is ‘Our Pride, Our Future’. We want to highlight the bright future that LGBTQ+ people can have. Ireland has taken incredible strides towards an equal society and we want to see that progress continue.

On July 19th we will march to demand a better, fairer future for everyone. Over and over we have seen that our basic human rights are not guaranteed and that we must fight for a fair and equal society. When homosexuality was illegal, a lengthy campaign led by David Norris finally forced laws to be reformed in 1993. Twenty-two years later LGBTQ+ people were still denied same-sex marriage, until the Irish people overwhelmingly voted for change via referendum. The future of Ireland has always and will always be determined by its people.

2025 marks the ten-year anniversary of the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Ireland now ranks 24th in a global ranking of LGBTQ+ equality1. We should be deeply proud of the progress we have made, but let’s not stagnate. We still need to ensure safety and equity for LGBTQ+ people growing up in Ireland. We urgently need legislation that bans harmful conversion “therapy”. We need recognition of non-binary people, and clearer, more standardised access to healthcare for transgender people. We also need to stem the tide of extremist right-wing voices that target our community with misinformation and fear mongering.

Clonmel Pride Chairperson Lou Dennehy reflects on the importance of our 2025 festival: “‘Our Pride, Our Future: Clonmel Pride 2025’ will be a colourful beacon of community in what can feel like a very divided world. Our Pride festival will communicate clearly that there is room at the table for all of us.”

No One Left Behind
Clonmel Community Pride stands firmly with the trans and non-binary community. Transgender people have historically been the strongest, most outspoken proponents for our rights as LGTBQ+ people. We strongly condemn the false and dangerous narratives that certain groups are now using to target vulnerable minorities like the trans community. We see online hate translating into real world danger and discrimination for our community2.

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Hate, exclusion, and bullying have no place in Irish society. Clonmel has a trans and non-binary community. They are our siblings, parents, children, family, and friends. They deserve the support and respect we would give to anyone else. Occasionally we meet a person named ‘James’ who goes by ‘Jim’ - using a preferred name is as simple as that. Supporting the trans community takes nothing away from others, and makes our community a richer and more vibrant place for everyone.

The recent UK ruling that creates a definition of a biological woman3is a binary answer to a highly complex and nuanced question. The ruling and its consequences are extremely poorly thought out. Intersex people exist, and they have been completely excluded from society by this ruling. Clonmel Community Pride takes direction from TENI (Transgender Equality Network of Ireland) on how best to support the trans and non-binary community in Clonmel.

As Michael D. Higgins often quotes: “Ní neart go cur le chéile” - we have no strength without togetherness.