A kissing protest outside the Dáil today. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie A kissing protest outside the Dáil today. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie LGBT COUPLES KISSED outside the Dáil today as part of a protest demanding government action on hate crime legislation.
Eddie McGuinness, one of the organisers of the Dublin Pride Festival, led the crowd in a kissing protest – dubbed ‘shift the hate away’. In October, a man went to an area in Coolock after arranging a meeting on a dating app. However, when he arrived he was met with a group of teenage boys with weapons and attacked.
Niall Cowley, who attended the protest, said his friend was attacked two months ago for kissing his boyfriend in public.“For some unknown reason, there has been a surge in hate crime incidents,” he said. A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said that this research is being finalised and when completed justice minister Charlie Flanagan “will bring forward proposals for new hate crime legislation”.