This week it was announced that Dublin city council had passed a motion to introduce Rainbow Walks around the city. The first rainbow crossing has been installed outside Pantibar on Capel street. 

On the back of Pantibar being the victim of homophobic graffiti this week, Rory O’Neill (Panti) tweeted out the suggestion of having a rainbow crossing connecting Pantibar and Pennylane. 

#Pantibar ? pic.twitter.com/k7LInfbTrB

— Dr Panti Bliss-Cabrera (@PantiBliss) June 18, 2021

Dublin city council shared images of the installation on Twitter. The rainbow crossing has been set up in partnership with Dublin Pride for the start of Pride week. Also in their Tweet, Dublin city council shared hopes that this walkway will be a success, and if so “we plan to paint more in other city-centre locations next week.”

Manager of Dublin Pride, Eddie McGuinness also tweeted about the installation of the crossing. He noted this was the first rainbow crossing put in place for the start of Pride week, which hopefully means we will be seeing more. “Very proud moment, thank you to [Dublin city council] & Traffic Division.”

In partnership with @DublinPride our Traffic section crew installed a #Pride rainbow walk on Capel Street overnight, just outside Pantibar! ? If, as expected, the rainbow walk is deemed a success, we plan to paint more in other city-centre locations next week. ?️‍? #CityRecovery pic.twitter.com/4XAQB1zvvJ

— Dublin City Council (@DubCityCouncil) June 18, 2021

After a string of hateful homophobic messages being spread across the city (and other counties in Ireland) in recent days, this is a welcome burst of colour just in time for Pride week. These bitter acts have shown us why it is still so essential to be celebrating Pride. Hopefully this rainbow crossing, and others to come, will be left untouched by the bigots. 

With these colourful improvements being made around Dublin City, and the success of the first trial weekend on Parliament street, a petition has been started to permanently widen the footpaths. All 19 businesses on the street are in favour of the initiative. It will create more space for cyclists, pedestrians, and outdoor dining space, while still retaining the bus routes and stops. The petition can be found at this link.