Pictured here is Tonie Walsh, Limerick Pride 2025 Grand Marshal, at the Treaty Stone in Limerick with Richard Lynch, PRO Limerick Pride and Lisa Daly, Chairperson Limerick Pride. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick
Limerick LGBTQIA Pride have announced the 2025 Grand Marshal is community activist Tonie Walsh as a reminder ‘this fight began long ago and still continues’
Limerick Pride has proudly announced that well-known community activist and DJ, Tonie Walsh, who has been a lifelong advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights, has been named Grand Marshal of the 2025 Limerick Pride Parade taking place on Saturday, July 12.
Tonie will lead this year’s parade through Limerick City under the theme, “United In This Together,” as a call for togetherness in the face of global challenges being faced by the LGBTQIA+ community.
Lisa Daly, Limerick Pride Chairperson reminded people across all communities that the movement cannot happen with “one or two people” but is an effort of different groups joining together.
The Limerick Pride Chairperson said, “ This movement can’t happen with one or two people, we need to be all together, our allies and our whole city. Even throughout the world, we need to stand by our communities and represent them all. That’s why having Tony as Grand Marshall this year is amazing, he is such a trailblazer who has been there from the start. I think that needs to be a reminder to people. This year, we’re fighting from the beginning all over again for our rights.”
Tonie Walsh’s announcement as Grand Marshal is a celebration of his legacy as well as his ongoing commitment to LGBTQIA+ visibility and activism. The Grand Marshal is well-known in the community and beyond for his early involvement with the National LGBT Federation, the National LGBT Archive, and his work with Gay Community News (GCN).
Speaking at the announcement, Tonie Walsh took the opportunity to remember the roots of the Pride movement in Ireland, saying, “ The very first Pride event in Ireland was in 1974 when 10 lesbians and gay men walked with great, great fierceness. They had a protest outside the British Embassy in Dublin, and then another protest outside the Department of Justice.
“Later on, their activism and their agency fed into the establishment of other groups. But it would take the establishment of social spaces to provide the necessary human resources to make Pride viable. As it rolled out throughout the nineties and the 2000s, we needed spaces where we could meet each other and have important conversations and do fundraising.”
Tonie wanted to give the message that Pride isn’t just an “ opportunity” for people to “show off their finest for one day of the year” but the message and history is a lot more than that.
Tonie said, “These important festivals aren’t just about a fabulous opportunity for Limerick queers to show off their finest for one day of the year. It’s about all of the city embracing what we’re offering and coming with us on our journey. That’s really important.”
Speaking about his involvement in the National LGBT Federation, Tonie explains he got involved at the age of 19 when the federation was just six months old, saying, “ It was impossible not to be swept up with all of the exuberance and energy. I’m talking about 1979, the LGBT Civil Rights Movement needed people, it needed real-life people to go out there and prepare to talk on television and on radio and stand up and say, ‘Yeah, I’m here. Next, Yeah, next. Look at me. I’m fierce and fabulous. And next.’
“Something like Pride is a great opportunity to not only give thanks to the place we find ourselves in today, but also acknowledge the journey that we’ve been on and the failures and the successes, the trials and tribulations, and realise that we grew from something that started with a small group of people and not unlike throwing a pebble in a pond, it just rippled out and rippled out.”
Walsh was 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 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.
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.
The Limerick LGBTQIA+ Pride Festival will run from July 7th to 13th, with the Parade as its centrepiece on Saturday, July 12th, departing from Merchants Quay at 2pm sharp. Walking groups will gather from 1pm, and floats will assemble from 12pm to 12:40pm. The Parade will march through the heart of Limerick and culminate in a celebratory Pridefest behind the Hunt Museum from 3pm to 6pm. This family-friendly event will feature live music, performances, free kids’ face painting, and the beloved Tea Dance with Myles Breen.
Pride Week will close with the Climax Party at Dolans on Saturday, July 12, where all three rooms will come alive with entertainment headlined by Kyran Thrax, winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, and a live performance by the world’s leading Britney Spears impersonator.
Lisa Daly noted this year’s parade is one of the most important so far, saying, “This year I don’t think I’ve ever felt so passionate about our parade, it’s a mission to make this bigger and better because we need to send out that strong message this year, and all Prides need to do it.”
She added, “ I’m calling on everyone, our allies, especially, to show up! Do not get pulled into this false information that’s gone out about our community, and we really need your support, now more than ever.”