Journalist, previous Irish Times Environmental Editor and scourge of corrupt property developers and cynical politicians, Frank McDonald has released his memoirs - Truly Frank. It tells the story of growing up in the Dublin of the 1950’s and ‘60s and how a young gay man navigated a scene forced underground.

I realised I was gay when was ten, although didn’t have a term to put on it, when started getting crushes on guys in the class. One in particular, his name was David and wanted to be with him all the time. But it was pretty difficult to cope with because Ireland was such a Catholic country.

The Corpus Christi processions were the most visible manifestations of overwhelming Catholicism. A whole area would be full of Papal flags and bunting and there would be a procession through the streets with an army escort. Public religious devotion of a type that nobody under 60 would remember at this stage.