David Stanton

Over 600 public servants collectively participated under the theme ‘Proud to Work for Ireland’ on Saturday.

The public sector organisations that participated under the theme included all Government departments, An Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Defence Forces, Revenue, Enterprise Ireland, the Courts Service, the National Museum of Ireland, the Property Registration Authority and the National Gallery of Ireland.

Mr Flanagan said on the day: “I am delighted to be walking alongside my Department of Justice and Equality colleagues, the broader public service, and the Gardaí - who are participating in uniform for the first time - in the Dublin LGBTQ Pride March.

“All of those marching are Proud to Work for Ireland every day and I am proud to walk with them this afternoon. I am particularly pleased to see the participation of Gardaí in uniform.

“This is a significant step that demonstrates An Garda Síochána’s commitment to building the inclusive Ireland that we all want to see, where everyone - regardless of their background - feels welcome in our society.”

While reflecting on Ireland’s progress in the area of LGBTI+ rights, Mr Stanton also acknowledged that barriers still remain both nationally and internationally for the LGBTI+ community.

Actions to tackle some of these barriers will be contained in the soon to be published National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy.

Mr Stanton said: “In the past few months, I have been working on developing Ireland’s first National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy with my colleagues in the Equality Division of the Department of Justice and Equality.

“I would like to extend my thanks to all the members of the LGBTI+ Community who participated in the Public Consultation on this Strategy, and in particular Denise Charlton and Grainne Healy who facilitated the nationwide consultation. The Department of Justice and Equality are working with other Departments to finalise the Strategy and I am delighted to announce that I will bring it to cabinet in the coming weeks.”