Limerick Pride Grand Marshal, Tonie Walsh, leads the 2025 Limerick Pride Parade through a sun-soaked Limerick City on Saturday, July 12, 2025, under the theme, “We’re All in This Together.” Photo: Cian Reinhardt/ilovelimerick
Limerick Pride Parade Grand Marshal Tonie Walsh uses his platform to highlight the history of Pride and why the festival is as important today as it ever was
The sun shone on Limerick City as the 2025 Limerick Pride Parade made its way down O’Connell Street with hundreds of people walking in support and hundreds more showing their support by lining the street and filling the air with their cheers and applause.
Leading this year’s parade under the theme of ‘United in this together’ was the 2025 Grand Marshal, Tonie Walsh, long-time activist in the LGBT community having served as president of the National LGBT Federation (NXF) from 1984 to 1989, when it was briefly co-defendant with Senator David Norris in his constitutional action (Norris V. Ireland).
During this time, Walsh worked as a staff reporter for OUT magazine, Ireland’s first attempt at a mainstream, commercial gay publication. Finding it hugely difficult to acquire advertising in a socially and economically hostile climate, OUT lasted only four years.
Frustration at both the lack of LGBTQ+ representation in the mainstream media and the absence of a community print forum compelled him to establish Gay Community News (GCN) in 1988. He edited GCN, one of the world’s oldest queer community publications, during its first two years.
Speaking at this year’s Limerick Pride, Tonie used his platform to highlight the issues the community is still facing, as well as explaining why the Pride protest is still needed.
He told Richard Lynch of I Love Limerick, “ We need a Pride parade because it’s still a process of unfinished business. Unfinished business, both in Ireland and abroad, and we need to use our queer visibility and our queer agency to make a statement about what still needs to be done.
“I’m thinking of trans healthcare. I’m thinking of putting a value and visibility on our LGBT traveller kids, I’m thinking of queer visibility in our education system. We’re still not being taught our history after 50 50 years of LGBT Liberation in Ireland. It’s still not in our school books. All that needs to be done and we need to shine and light on the type of modern, outward-looking progressive republic that we’re building. We are agents of that change, but we want to get everyone along for the ride as well.”
Tonie has been a regular contributor to both Irish and International media outlets, writing extensively on politics, civil rights, and LGBQTIA+ history. In the 1990s, he made his mark as a DJ, installation designer, and club promoter with iconic events such as ELEVATOR warehouse parties and well-known fetish club GAG.
The Limerick Pride Grand Marshal played a major role in the HIV/AIDS charity event Alternative Miss Ireland, and his early media presence included a slot on Dublin-based pirate radio station Power 98.7FM.
Walsh’s activism has been deeply personal as in 2015, he publicly disclosed his HIV-positive status, spearheading the creation of Ireland’s AIDS memorial which opened in 2023. Now based between Ireland and Turkey, Walsh continues to document and impact Ireland’s queer community through activism, writing, research, and the popular ‘Lavender Walk’ tours.
Tonie said, “Limerick City and County have so much to be proud of, and yet here we are in 2025, ten years after Marriage Equality and the amazing Gender Recognition Act, which often gets overlooked. Here we are, ten years later, and we still have to listen to people saying, ‘Didn’t you get it all? What more do you want? Be happy with what you’ve got!’
“Well, first of all, never ever tell a queer person ‘to be happy with what we’ve got’. Because we always want more! And we especially want more for our brothers and sisters, queer and straight, who are still struggling, whether here in Ireland or further afield in places like Palestine, Ukraine and Hungary. As this year’s Pride theme says: We are all united in this together!
“So, to all those who still haven’t worked out what Pride is all about, let me tell you. Pride is many things to different people. It is not only a political protest at unfinished business but also a street rave; a family day out; and, not unlike tonight, a chance to catch up with friends – and even ex-lovers. It is a necessary corrective to often drab street life and pervasive heteronormativity. It is a time to celebrate our relationships and our families, both biological and logical. Pride is a time to wonder at the distance we’ve travelled!”
As well as highlighting the issues faced in the community in Ireland, the Grand Marshal took his time to speak about the global LGBT community, he said, “On days like today, we remember our duty of care to others less fortunate than us, whether its advocating for the safety and security of our Trans brothers and sisters here, in Europe and other far away places: Being an international voice and a country of hope for others who have neither a voice nor the dignity that we here take for granted.
“Being a voice for queer Traveller kids who demand to be seen, cherished and valued. Being an advocate for better sexual health education, and demanding that our culture and history are represented in the education system. Being a voice for our brothers and sisters up North who are wondering how long it is going to take to finally reunite the whole country.”
“We are all united in this together, for as long as it takes!”