Norris praises Loreto students for organising Mullingar LGBT event

The fact that teenagers can organise an LGBT+ awareness event in Mullingar shows how far Irish society has come in recent years.

That’s according to Senator David Norris, who was the main speaker at a recent LGBT+ awareness event organised by members of Loreto College’s student council that was held in The Greville Arms Hotel.

Senator Norris, who started his speech by praising the members of the student council for “defying the authorities who tried to stamp on debate and close it down”, gave a brief outline of his almost 50 years as an activist.

He joked that when he started campaigning for gay rights in the late 1960s, he wasn’t “the only gay in the village but the only gay in the country”.

He also paid tribute to local activist Ruth Illingworth, who became the first openly gay mayor of an Irish town when she became mayor of Mullingar in 2009.

Noting how far Irish society had came on the issue of gay rights over the last half a century, Senator Norris said that in the not so distant past he would have been unable to speak a public event like the one on Monday evening.

“It is remarkable to me how young people are discussing these issues. I was invited a couple of months ago to speak to Kings Hospital, the big boarding school on the outskirts of Dublin. It was kids boys and girls from 12 to 18 and I said if I had done this 20 years ago I would have been in jail.

“That was the kind of atmosphere there was.”

Longford native Síona Cahill, who in addition to being the president-elect of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) is an LGBT+ rights activist, also spoke at the event.

She praised the members of the Loreto Student Council for organising the event, of which there aren’t enough in the midlands.

Ms Cahill spoke about coming out at the age of 20 and her experiences as an activist. Describing herself as a “difficult woman” and “difficult lesbian”, she said that being difficult sometimes is part of being an activist.

“The thing about difficult people is that they are seen as an awful nuisance but they are awfully, absolutely necessary... Being a little difficult is about creating and calling for change and that’s not always easy.

“It’s not always about big stuff like marriage equality, it’s about basic access to treatment, how you are being looked after and how you are not being bullied.

“It’s about the expectations of society around us. It’s about events like today. That’s what calling for change means.”

Speaking at the start of the event, one of the organisers, Marta Geszczak, said that the students council “wanted to create a safe and friendly space for conversation about what LGBT+ rights and issues mean to you”.

“We live in a continually developing world and I’m glad we have this opportunity to make our voices heard on this topic.

“My heart is bursting with pride because I am aware of the passion that went into this event.”

Deputy Robert Troy, who helped the Loreto Student Council organise the event, said that the event was testament to their drive and determination.

“I was approached by a couple of parents and I felt that what the young ladies were doing in terms of creating awareness should be supported,” he said.

“We should be supporting people who passionately believe in something and want to make a difference.

“That’s why I was happy to lend a supporting hand. To be fair the girls drove the project themselves,” Deputy Troy said.