JP McCarthy / Treasurer JP is the longest serving member of the Cork Pride team. JP is a Customer Service Support Manager with a global online retailer. He is also an out and proud Eurovision fan, and a closet sports fan. JP is originally from Dungarvan, but lives in Cork. JP is also a Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival Board member. Denise Boyle / Parade & Afterparty Manager Denise has been the Parade and Afterparty Manager for the past 7 years. A well known Cork building contractor, Denise is a registered gas technician, CAD technician, and electrician. She is a huge Munster Rugby fan, is the Coach for Mallow Women’s Rugby team and is a Board member of the Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival. Ailsa Spindler / Committee Member Ailsa is project Co-ordinator at Gay Project. Ailsa moved to Cork in 2020, having worked in equality and human rights organisations across Europe. The first Executive Director of ILGA-Europe, Ailsa’s campaigning for LGBT rights was recognised in 2005 with the Ian Dunn Memorial Award for Activism, awarded by Pride Scotia. Kery Mullaly / Business Development Manager Kery handles the Cork Pride sponsorships remit and produces the annual Cork Pride magazine. Kery has brokered partnerships and sponsorships across many festivals and events including the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, Electric Picnic, Cork Midsummer Festival, and the Cork International Choral Festival. He divides his time between Kilkenny and Cork. Clive Davis / Chairperson Clive has been the Chairperson of the Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival for the past 10 years. Clive is a Regional Director with Youth Work Ireland, manages Youth Work Ireland Laois, and is a Director and Board Secretary of People First Credit Union; he is also Director on the ILCU’s Youth Committee and is a Director of LGBT Ireland where he is also Treasurer. Konrad Im / Events Co-ordinator Konrad is the Community Development Worker for the Gay Project and has worked and volunteered in the LGBT+ community in Cork for eight years. He has a BA in Community Development from MTU and is currently finishing a Masters in Community Sector Management in UCC. You can also catch him on weekends on the streets of Ballyphehane as the Chairperson on Tidy Towns.
CHAIRPERSON’S WELCOME
We’re back! I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome everybody to this year’s Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival – which is shaping up to be our biggest to date! Whether it’s your first Cork Pride, or you’ve been with us from the beginning, get involved - I’m sure you enjoy every minute of it! We’ve all endured an incredibly challenging couple of years, but we’ve got through it together, and life as we know it is getting back to normal. During this time Cork Pride had to reinvent itself – we had no option than to go fully online in the worst times of the pandemic in 2020, and yet delivered a phenomenal event, and last year we started to emerge from our Covid imposed virtual Pride, and delivered a fabulous hybrid festival - this year, I thrilled to say, we’re fully back to our beloved Cork City streets again, and we’ve programmed a fabulous festival for you! This year, our theme is Proud To Be… This year, we have decided not to appoint our usual Grand Marshal, who is chosen to recognise their work for the community, represent an organisation or champion a particular cause – instead, we’d like to invite you to be the Grand Marshal this year, and each and every person in our vibrant, resilient, and diverse LGBT+ community, we hope you will march with us through the streets of Cork with Pride. Pride is more important than ever, and we must never lose sight that amidst the celebrations, Pride is a Protest. The global Pride movement has become the largest and most successful Human Rights campaign in history, and whilst we as a community have effected enormous change and celebrated momentous achievements, there is still a huge amount of work to be done. The past few months have been a very difficult time for our LGBT+ community, both in Ireland, and globally. The worrying rise of anti LGBT+ rhetoric and homophobic hate crimes continues – and there are still no hate crime laws in place in Ireland to protect us. So called Conversion Therapy is still legal.
There is also still much work to do to afford equality to our LGBT+ families, and our Trans community continue to endure unacceptably poor levels of healthcare, and representation in the media. We must protest, lobby, and create visibility around these issues – none of us are equal, until all of us are equal, and that equality needs to be now. Lastly, I would like to sincerely thank the Cork LGBT+ Pride Board and Committee for their hard work and commitment, year round – without you we would simply not have been able to develop and grow Cork Pride into what it has become today, a Pride run by our community, for all of our community. I’d also like to pay tribute to our sponsors, funders, donors, venue partners, accommodation partners, and community partners who’s help and support is generously pledged annually, and is hugely appreciated. Last, but by no means least, I’d like to thank you, our community - you are the beating heart of Cork Pride. Not everybody in our community is the same, but we are all equal. Wishing you, your family, and friends a very happy and safe Cork Pride.
Sophia Reid-Recks / Committee Member Sophia has a keen interest in LGBT+ activism and completed her Masters in Social Policy from UCC on the rights of LGBT+ young people in the Irish education system. In her spare time she is a dedicated animal welfare activist, die-hard vegan and tie-dye enthusiast.
Sam Lake / Secretary Sam is the newest member to the Board and holds the role of Secretary. Sam is a behavior therapist with Cope Foundation. Sam is an enthusiastic gym bunny and self-proclaimed dog lover! Sam is looking forward to working with others to ensure the Cork Pride Festival represents everyone.
Clive Davis Chairperson Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival
Dee Finn / Pride Reaching Out Project Worker Dee works on the Pride Reaching Out Project, an initiative which has recently created new LGBT+ community groups in Blarney and Ballincollig. She graduated from an MA in Gender and Women’s Studies in 2021, where she completed research on LGBT+ experiences of education in Ireland.
Damien O’Halloran / Company Secretary Damien O’Halloran is an executive leader working in IT for over 25 years, leading globally diverse teams. He is actively involved in multiple diversity and inclusion functions, most especially Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), focusing on encouraging team members to bring their authentic selves to the workplace. Damien is also the chair of the Work With Pride professional network. Mary Flanagan / Administrator Mary joined The Cork Pride team in 2018, bringing experience in Youth Services, Finance, Education, & Logistics. She is an Office & Finance Administrator in Youth Services and also runs Music & Arts programs. Mary is the Programme Co-Ordinator for the Youth Work Ireland Laois “Electric Youth” programme held in association with Electric Picnic.
#CorkPride2022
9
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker