According to a report by the AIB Spend Trend, the day of the Dublin Pride parade saw a “peak” in consumer spending in the capital’s pubs and restaurants, meaning that it was worth more to the local economy than the June Bank Holiday weekend.

​​On Saturday, June 24, the streets of the Irish capital were flooded with the colours of the rainbow as thousands of people gathered to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Dublin Pride parade.

This year’s march started on O’Connell Street, where tens of thousands of people started to make their way through the city. People of all ages and backgrounds marched, with many more gathering in the huge crowd that watched and cheered from the sidelines.

Speaking prior to the parade, Executive Director of Dublin Pride Jamie Kenny said that the event attracts between 60,000 and 80,000 people. “This year we have taken over both sides of O’Connell Street, we are just that big now,” he said.

“We are a well-oiled machine at this stage so there are no radical changes. It takes the first people to walk it about 45 to 50 minutes. It’s not a very long march but by the time it’s totally cleared it can take a few hours,” Kenny added.

As data gathered by the AIB Spend Trend research shows, the huge crowd that gathered for the Dublin Pride parade drove big spending in the local pubs and restaurants.

In the month of June, the average daily spending in pubs increased by 28% in comparison to May, while spending in hotels went up 12% and up 7% in restaurants. The AIB Spend Trend compiled data for this research from around 70 million anonymised and aggregated debit and credit card transactions during June 2023. This produces one of the most accurate data sets on consumer spending in Ireland, providing vital information on spending trends for businesses.