The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is hosting SHINE, an incredible performance in collaboration with Dublin Pride on Thursday, June 20, and GCN has five pairs of tickets to give away to our lucky readers!
To mark the 50th anniversary of the first Pride demonstration in Ireland, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra will offer performances that celebrate, commemorate, and applaud the work of queer activists in the country.
The evening will feature musical guests and speakers from the LGBTQ+ community and allies, including Wallis Bird, Shobsy, Susan McFadden and the Dublin Gay Men’s Chorus. Wallis Bird will be performing her song ‘Dr James Barry,’ which was inspired by the pioneering 19th-century transgender doctor born in 1789 who lived as a man and used male pronouns.
Shobsy will sing ‘Smalltown Boy’ from The Age of Consent album released 40 years ago. The album sleeve famously listed ‘European laws regarding minimum age for lawful homosexual relationships between men’ and, in the middle of it was ‘Eire – Completely illegal for males’. Shobsy previously performed an incredibly moving acoustic cover of ‘Smalltown Boy’ on RTÉ’s Late Late Show in April 2022, following the murders of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee.
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Speakers include Belong To’s CEO Moninne Griffith, as the organisation was chosen as this year’s Dublin Pride Grand Marshall. Griffith will talk about what Pride means to young LGBTQ+ people.
Writer and comedian Martin ‘Beanz’ Warde will talk about being gay and from the Traveller community as “a minority within a minority within another minority.”
UCD Historian and Director of Gender Studies, Dr Mary McAuliffe, will speak about the role of queer women during the Irish Revolution and read from Dr Kathleen Lynn’s diaries about her relationship with Madeleine ffrench-Mullen.
GCN founder Tonie Walsh will deliver a powerful speech about the history of queer struggle over the past 50 years, since the Dublin-based Sexual Liberation Movement organised the first Pride demonstration in Dublin on June 27, 1974.
Music from the evening will span genres and feature film scores, opera, and the best of national and international pop culture, promising “sing-along moments of Pride, community and humanity.”
Additional musical performances on the night will include ‘Secret Love’, ‘Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend’, ‘Sexy Boy’, ‘Ring of Keys’, ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’, ‘Closer to Fine’, ‘Seasons of Love’, ‘Padam, Padam’, ‘You Make Me Feel Mighty Real’ and ‘Make Your Own Kind of Music’.
The concert will take place at 8:00pm on June 20 in the National Concert Hall. Tickets are available now from €15, but for a chance to win a free pair of tickets, simply answer the following question:
What is the name of the performance presented by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and Dublin Pride?
The competition closes at midnight on Thursday, June 13, 2024. Winners will be contacted directly and shared on social media.
By submitting this form, you give GCN consent to process your personal information for the purposes of conducting this competition. More information on how we protect your privacy can be found here.
This competition is now closed, please visit our Competitions page for more.
© 2024 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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