Today, Monday, December 1, the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mr. Christy Burke, will host an event in the Mansion House to mark World Aids Day, emphasising that HIV is a responsibility for all.

The Mansion House on Dublin’s Dawson Street will be lit in red from early morning, joining with other cities worldwide to highlight the continued existence of HIV/Aids in Ireland and across the globe.

Figures from the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre report that 344 people were newly diagnosed with HIV in Ireland in 2013. By the October 18 of this year, 328 people were newly diagnosed, representing a 15 per cent increase against the same period in 2013. Almost one person per day now becomes HIV positive in Ireland.

The main focus of the event will be to launch HIV – Our Responsibilities, a report produced by Positive Now, the all Ireland network of people living with HIV. This report is an invitation to Irish society to become involved in a conversation about HIV and its responsibility towards developing a greater awareness, understanding and acceptance of HIV in Ireland.

The event is supported by ACET, BelongTo, Concern, Diaspora Women’s Initiative, DOCHAS, Dublin AIDS Alliance, Dublin City Council, Gay Health Network, Gay Men’s Health Service, Healthy Ireland, HSE Crisis Pregnancy Programme, Man2Man.ie, Positive Now, and St James’s GUIDE Clinic.

Also to mark World Aids Day, GAZE, in association with Dublin City Council, will screen Bill Hughes’ 1994 RTÉ documentary film, Fintan, which follows Fintan Brennan as he is diagnosed with HIV in the late ’80s. The film introduces us to Fintan’s family as they come to terms with their loss, and interviews Fintan himself, six weeks before his passing, as he speaks with insight and honesty about his life. A limited number of tickets will be on sale for the screening at 6.30pm in The Light House Cinema.

For information about HIV, safer sex, testing and support, visit www.dublinaidsalliance.ie; www.man2man.ie; www.positivenow.ie