Mullingar to celebrate with Pride this week

Sarah Slevin

The local community have expressed their delight in seeing Mullingar Pride’s debut festival go “full steam ahead” this week.

After months of hard work and fundraising efforts, Mullingar Pride have everything ready for Werk! Fest, which runs till July 16.

Marie Boyne, 92 years old, said: “I am thrilled to see Mullingar having a Pride at last. When I was in America many years ago, I saw a Pride parade and thought it was wonderful, and to see it in our town is magnificent,” Marie said.

“I would like to wish everyone involved all the best and hopefully there will be many more,” Marie added.

Nikki Loram suggested that the festival gives the town a reason to come together to celebrate the community.

“I’m absolutely delighted to see Pride coming to the town. It will give the opportunity for everyone who is in the LGBTQ+ community to come together and those who are allies to give support to those who haven’t found their true selves,” Nikki said, while Deborah Stenson said that it means a lot to her as one of the main organisers of the Yes Equality Campaign for marriage equality in 2015.

“As a proud ally of the local LGBTQ+ community, I cannot wait to attend the events of Mullingar’s first ever Pride, and bring my daughter along to the Werk! Fest Family Activities,” Deborah said.

“I love that this event will be inclusive of all people of all ages. It will be one to remember I’m sure,” Deborah added.

Chairperson of Mullingar Pride, Daniel Boyne, has spoken to the Westmeath Examiner previously about the struggles the organisation has had with funding but has confirmed the festival is ready to go thanks to the local community.

“The response to our call-for-help, our sponsorship packages and GoFundMe campaign has been great. Everyone has come up trumps and supported us and thanks to that, we get to go ahead with our festival.

“We wouldn’t have a Pride if it wasn’t for the generosity of the public here in Mullingar and the local businesses that are sponsoring us,” Daniel said. “Thanks to everyone in Mullingar for getting behind us and donated; we are very appreciative of it.”

Daniel also explained how they managed to overcome one of the big hurdles, the insurance costs: “We want to give a big shoutout to Gerry Wallace, who gave us a very manageable insurance quote for the whole event after seeing an article in the paper, so it’s fantastic and it’s full steam ahead now. We’re really looking forward to it and the town is buzzing over it,” Daniel said.

Mullingar Pride runs till July 16 - more information can be found on Instagram and Facebook.