LGBT Ireland Unveils Plan to Make Ireland the Most LGBTQ+ Friendly Place by 2027

Roshni D’Souza

LGBT Ireland said that they will help refugees and asylum seekers who are LGBTQ+ as part of their plan to make Ireland the best country to be LGBTQ+ by 2027.

The charity helping the LGBTQ+ community of Ireland announced its plans at a conference they held in Dublin on the 16th of January.

Padraig Rice, the Policy and Research Manager of LGBT Ireland said that although they have outlined their goals, the project is in its early stages. “One of our ideas is to have a number of events where we bring together academics and researchers, and people who work in NGOs in the policy space share ideas to form exactly how that research network would look. Our goal is to bring people together, to achieve more collaboration, more sharing of resources and better partnerships.”

The charity currently has a caseworker who is Ukrainian. “They work to support Ukrainian refugees by 1-to-1 support, information and services.” They also have a broader team that is researching how best to help migrant refugees, people under Direct Provision, and those seeking asylum, that will publish a paper this year according to Rice.

LGBT Ireland published a report, too, addressing problems LGBTQ+ asylum seekers face in Ireland. “The report has a number of recommendations about improving services for people seeking asylum. In particular, about information people are provided with, legal advice they receive, training, and performance during interviews,” Rice said.

Rice also said that LGBT Ireland is also currently working with other NGOs and Civil Society Groups that help Ukrainian refugees.

Meanwhile, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic O’Gorman launched the plan and reiterated plans of the Government to ban conversion therapy and combat hate crime against LGBTQ+ people.