After the success that was last year’s open call for Irish queer artists to submit their artwork as a way to celebrate queer love and identity and fight against homophobia, Dónal Talbot, the photographer behind the ‘Pride posters Project’, decided to launch the second edition of this project during Pride month 2022.

This year, he is teaming up with two other local artists, Andrew Shannon and Robyn Deane. 

Dónal came up with the idea to put out an open call where artists could submit posters, after he discovered anti-LGBTQ+ posters being plastered around Waterford city along with incidents involving the town’s official Pride flag being torn down on numerous occasions.

“As an openly gay man living in Waterford, I knew this type of bigotry was not representative of the otherwise exceptionally welcoming county I have grown to love and call home,” Dónal told GCN.

The photographer received over 40 submissions and more than 2.00 euros to cover printing expenses. The posters were spread around Dublin and Waterford to promote queer empowerment and visibility in Ireland. 

‘The Poster Project’ was also expanded into a series of exhibitions in Waterford’s Gallery of Modern Art and Dublin’s Outhouse in July 2021.

Since their first edition in 2021, Ireland saw an alarming number of homophobic and transphobic attacks. 

Speaking to GCN, Andrew explains that “unfortunately, since last June, there have been an alarming number of homophobic and transphobic attacks across the island of Ireland. This is why projects such as the Pride posters project [are] so important as it gives a chance to spread queer joy and visibility on the same streets that vicious attacks on our community have taken place.”

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‘The Poster Project’ is currently looking for submissions and volunteers to put up the posters around the city. They have also set up a GoFundMe to cover print and material costs, and the link is available here.