Tony Power remembered as LGBTI+ Awareness week marked

Wed, 18 May, 2022 - 08:41

Donal O’Keeffe

LAUNCHING Cork LGBTI+ Awareness Week, Cork’s Lord Mayor remembered the late Tony Power as “a voice for compassion and inclusivity, and a stalwart of all that is right and good in our city”.

“It was an absolute honour and a privilege to officially launch Cork LGBTI+ Awareness Week in the Millennium Hall,” Lord Mayor of Cork Councillor Colm Kelleher told The Echo.

Raising the Intersectional Rainbow Flag on LGBTI+ Awareness Week were CPO John O’Donoghue, Flag Officer Commanding Naval Service Commodore Michael Malone, Captain (NS) Ken Minehane, Lt Aisling O’Flynn, at the Naval Base, Haulbowline. Picture: Jim Coughlan

“I had the privilege of wearing the late Tony Power’s tie to the event, and Tony, who worked in Cork City Council’s Community, Culture and Place-Making Directorate, was instrumental in our inclusivity policy, and it was very poignant that members of Tony’s family were here to see how much we appreciated him.”

Mr Power, who passed away last July, had been on the roof of City Hall in 2014 when Cork became the first city in Ireland to fly the Rainbow Flag from a civic building, raising a Pride flag on loan from Cork’s twin city San Francisco, and Councillor Kelleher said it was only right that the city remember him.

Pictured are, Shane O'Donoghue, Triona Healy, both Community Work Department HSE, Denise Twohig, TUSLA, June Hamill, Community Work Department HSE, Siobhan O'Dowd, Chairperson LGBTI+ InterAgency Group, Kevin Mooney, Community Work Department HSE and Eleanor Moore, Eleanor Moore, Principal Community Worker, Cork South Community Work Department, Cork Kerry Community Healthcare, at the flag raising for the 2022 LGBTI+ Awareness Week, at St. Finbarr's Hospital, Douglas Road, Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Cork is the first and only city on the island of Ireland to become a member of the International Rainbow Cities Network, pledging to protect and enhance LGBTI+ rights and inclusion.

Cllr Kelleher said a full range of events is planned for Cork city and county for LGBTI+ Awareness Week, which is run in conjunction with Cork County Council.

Pictured are, Kieran O'Connell, Social Inclusion Cork City Council, Tom Cronin, Department of Social Protection, Ruth Lynch, Cork City Council, Thomas Talbot, Cork City Library and David O'Brien, Cork City Librarian, at the flag raising for the 2022 LGBTI+ Awareness Week, at Cork City Library, Grand Parade, Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

“We are a rainbow city, and I hope that we can live up to our motto Statio Bene Fida Carinis, ‘A Safe Harbour for Ships’, and be a safe harbour for all,” Cllr Kelleher said.

To mark International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT), Rainbow Flags were raised at locations across Cork city and county, including at the Naval Base, Haulbowline.

Pictured are, Shirley Smyth, Youghal Family Resource Initative, Cllr Mary Linehan Foley, Hayley Fox-Roberts, Cumann Na Daoine & Seeding the County, Will Kennedy, Positive Cork- HIV Support, Lorraine Hogan, Cork County Council and Marielle Xuereb, Cumann Na Daoine & Seeding the County, at the flag raising for the 2022 LGBTI+ Awareness Week, at Town Hall, Youghal, Co. Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Among the planned highlights of LGBTI+ Awareness Week are an IDAHOBIT seminar, Culture Night in the Triskel on Friday, a Rainbow Picnic in the People’s Park at 2pm on Saturday, and an IDAHOBIT service at St Anne’s Shandon on Sunday.

For a full programme of events, see Facebook.

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