Ireland’s state broadcaster reports:
The Taoiseach has paid tribute in the Dáil to those who were criminalised for homosexual activity prior to the repeal of the laws in 1993. “Today the people I want to pay a special tribute to are the unknown heroes, the thousands of people whose names we do not know, who were criminalised by our forbears,” Leo Varadakar told the Dáil during a debate on a Labour party motion marking the 25th anniversary of the repeal of the laws.
The Taoiseach also said that it was no secret that a number of patriots who were involved in the founding of the State – men and women – were homosexual. “While the state’s laws affected gay men in a legal sense, they had a chilling effect on lesbians as well,” he said. Mr Varadkar said that we cannot erase the wrong that was done to them: “What we can say is that we have learned as a society from their suffering. Their stories have helped change us for the better; they have made us more tolerant, more understanding and more human.”
From earlier today:
Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has apologised in the Seanad to members of the LGBT community who suffered as a result of the criminalisation of homosexuality. He was speaking as both the Dáil and Seanad prepare to debate a motion from the Labour Party on the 25th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993.
Speaking in the Seanad, Mr Flanagan said: “I extend a sincere apology to all of those people, to their family, and to their friends. “To any person who felt the hurt and isolation created by those laws, and particularly to those who were criminally convicted by the existence of such laws.”
He said he was delighted to support the motion from Labour Senator Ged Nash which he said, at its heart, offers an apology to all those affected by the criminalisation of consensual same-sex acts in Ireland prior to 1993.
Taoiseach pays tribute to those whose ‘stories have helped changed us as a country for the better’ pic.twitter.com/B3GsOwg2xa
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 19, 2018
Leo Varadkar tells the Dáil ‘we remember those who paved the way for this change’. pic.twitter.com/R7R8y1gkHA
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 19, 2018
Taoiseach: ‘I was born in 1979 and in the three years before that there were 44 prosecutions [due to the criminalisation of homosexuality] in this country. It’s not that long ago.’ pic.twitter.com/AUIxLNvun2
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) June 19, 2018