More broadly, GCN was born into a decade that saw a number of defeats for socially progressive movements in Ireland, with the passage of the so-called ‘pro life’ 8th Amendment in 1983 and the rejection of divorce in 1986. (The latter was reversed in 1995, the former hopefully in 2018.)
Kieran Rose, Chris Robson, Phil Moore and Suzy Byrne outside Dáil Eireann, celebrating the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993
The 1990s saw a gradual opening up of Irish society, not least because the power and influence of the Catholic Church, which underpinned a stifling conservatism, began to erode in the face of multiple clerical child abuse revelations. Homosexuality was finally decriminalised in 1993 (with an equal age of consent) and anti-discrimination legislation was enacted in 1998 (employment) and 2000 (goods and services).