June 2000

26/06/00

If you go down to the woods today

Lynch's hosted their first ever 'teddy bears picnic' on Saturday night, we have heard great reports on the event. Lynch's chef slaved over a Bar-B-Q all night providing free food until the late hours. Our reviewer put it nicely "There was a good crowd there and lots of really good food which was great...I had thought it would be one sausage and thats your lot! They kept serving the food I think until about 10.30 p.m. ...I say I think cause I kind of lost track of time at that stage! And at no stage did they charge anything!! A rarity in this commercial world we live in!!" 

Visit the Lynch's page in the guide to Dublin section for a full review

The Death of Penny Bridge + Bingo Birthday

One of the best loved drag queens on the Dublin Circuit is to retire tonight. Penny Bridge has been Shirley's Assistant at bingo for the past two years. Penny takes her name from the famous bridge in Dublin 'The Half Penny Bridge' which also gives her infamous catch phase:-

Penny: Hey Everybody Audience:- Hey Penny Bridge While Shirley is of course the star of bingo, Penny has had some very funny moments, who will forget her wonder woman or Hawai 50 impressions? Penny recently has been appearing Baby 2k at club Mono on a Monday night and tonight shall be her final night. Last nights Bingo was Penny's final appearance, Penny received a cheer from the crowd that almost lifted the roof off the George. Bingo went on for more than three hours last night, one of the highlights included a rare appearance by Claire McClone dressed up as a giant birthday cake.

Viva La George

Last Years Eurovision winner - Dana International shall be appearing at the George on July 7th. The transvestite superstar is one of the biggest acts to appear in the pub. Tickets are on sale now priced £10.00 - Fans are advised to arrive early, there is support from 'Strike' and other special guests.

Pride Parade - This Saturday

Quick reminder - Dublin's Pride Parade will be held this Saturday, leaving Parnell Square at 1.45 and heading to the civic offices behind Christchurch. Try and go along to support it, wear the brightest clothes you can find - altho if you're worried that your auntie will be shopping in town and you dont want her to see you walking down O'Connell Street in her best dress then head along to the outdoor event at the Civic offices. For more pride events visit our Pride Page.

Family suing Phone Book over gay Lines

Irish Stars to Play UK Club

Recent Irish number one 'Samantha Mumba' is to play GAY in London this weekend, she will be followed on the 8th of July by boyzone star Ronan Keating who will be singing his new song 'Rollercoaster' and of course his succesful first single 'When you say nothing at all'. Ronan is the third boyzone member to play the popular GAY club in the past two months as both Stephen Gately and Mikey Graham have played there to plug their new singles.

Graham - The motion picture

The funniest and campest person ever to come out of Cork city is to star in his own movie. The movie is a twist on the classic 'Green Card' with the working title of 'Pink Card' in it he plays a man sponsoring his American love to come to the UK.
The movie is written by Jonathan Harvey who also wrote Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie, probably one of the most under-rated shows of the past year which incidently is also based an an unusual gay relationship.

New cases of AIDS in Ireland reaches all-time high

The AIDS pandemic is moving away from being a killer disease to a chronic illness, according to the latest report by the National AIDS Strategy Committee. Figures for new cases for HIV in Ireland reached an all-time high last year of 209 cases. The report, published today, sets out a series of recommendations dealing with HIV infection and AIDS. These include the continuation of national media campaigns to promote sexual health and safer drug use, HIV prevention education to be integrated into the broader sex education programme, and a multi-agency approach to tackling the problem of homelessness and HIV/AIDS. 

Like a Virgin

The First "Like A Virgin" Amateur Drag Contest was held on Monday June 19th as part of Pride. It was a small but very select (not intentionally so) audience and judging panel(Judges: alva Smith, Rory O'Neil(Panti), Siobhan Broadway and one of the WERREC people from UCD.

Audience: Vada, Shirley, the Dyin For It's, DialEmma, Clare McClone etc) and some very talented new performers, 6 in total. The winner, Miss Misfortune will be in Gristle either this Friday or Friday 2 weeks from now.

Outart - Now Open

This years Outart exhibition opens today, Their homepage has a sample of some the work that will be on view. Visit http://www.arthouse.ie/exhibitions/outart/outart.html 

Mailing List breaks 400 barrier

The gay-ireland discussion list has reached 400 members for the first time, Originally set up in October 1998 the list attracts mails from its members on a wide range of subjects, there is something for everyone including current affairs, night clubs, humour and bitchiness. 

OutArt 2000 to Open on Thursday

This years Outart exhibition opens on June 22nd in the arthouse, Dublin. The event has drawn exhibits from countries all over the world and consists of paintings, sculptures, photography and Video. The exhibition this year was open to all and not nescarily gay artists. Galway also plays host to a similar art exhibition which opened in Zulu's bar Last night (June 16th)

Bingo's 3rd Birthday + TV Fame

Meanwhile TG4 carried a half hour program last Monday on Shirley Temple Bar, the program gave us the life story of the much loved drag queen and showed her at play with her hula-hoop in a flat complex in inner city Dublin. Twink and Linda Martin both declared their addiction to bingo. The program showed clips of Bingo at the George as well as last years pride parade and Gristle in the Pod.

Bi Club Returns

Binky - The club for bisexuals is making a welcome return for Pride 2000. It will be held in the Irish Film Center on Thursday June 22nd from 11pm. Music is from 'Little Red' and 'Predator' Bi people and Bi-Friendly people are welcome :) Click here to view the flyer for Binky

Viper officialy opens

Tuesday night club 'Outside' at the Viper room officialy opened its doors this week (June 13th) The club has been opened for a few weeks but they hadnt officialy announced themselves to the world. Click here to view the Viper Rooms Flyer.

No More Mixing at Liquid

Popular Galway nightclub Club Mix will not be held in Liquid of Salthill anymore. Altho' we understand that Liquid will still be running a gay night on Friday and Sunday nights as usual but the Club Mix people will be moving venues. For Pride week Club Mix will be at 'The Black Box' on Dyke Road on June 30th and July 1st and 2nd.

Are you gay enough to be a ladies man?'

On Tuesday June 13th The evening Herald newspaper ran an article titled 'Women just love a slightly gay man' By Susan Mitchell 

Culturally homosexual but genetically straight, that just about sums up the ideal man for a woman and the prototype consistently taunts us on the big screen. Claims the article.
No woman wants to date a new man who gets teary eyed every day and we definitly dont want a wimpy Julian Calry type either. These hyper sensitive souls arent looking for a partner rather a replica of their mother to cater to their
pathetic whims. Those who are not gay enough are beer-swilling louts whose idea of a spontaneity is a bunch of roses on valentines day. 

The paper gives us the example of Madonna and Rupert Everett who appear together in a new movie 'next best thing' where Madonna decides to have a child by a gay man stating 'Rupert Everett has charmed the pants off the material girl.

The two are inseparable and are frequently spotted out on the town in London and New York. Disappointingly  for Mads she and Rupert, who is gay, will never be more than just good friends.'

The paper goes on to address what they feel what traits of a gay man should be carried over to a straight man which include hoovering, perparing meals, frequenting art galleries and buying impromptu gifts for their loved ones.

We decided to do the Heralds Survery titled  'Are you gay enough to be a ladies man?'
Broken into three categories food, drink and sport then rated on wether your preference is too gay, not gay enough or just gay enough
In the food section I rated burgers and chips over a smelly old salmon which gave me a score of 'not gay enough'
In the drink section i didnt even make the ratings, being too gay meant I drank perrier with a twist of lime, being not gay enough I would drink cider in a park and knock back 15 pints and to be just gay enough I would have to enjoy fine wines and drink beer from a half pint glass.
Who are these mysterious perrier with a twist of lime drinkers?
Again I failed to get rated in the sports section which again gave three options, Darts = not gay enough, Ballet = too gay or golf = just gay enough

From this scientific study the evening Herald calculated that Hugh Grant is the ideal ladies man, he's considered just gay enough because he is cultured, refined and dignified. Unlike David Beckham who is considered 'too gay' which i'm sure many of our readers are pleased to hear.

Shirley Vision

Shirley Temple Bar will soon be a household name thanks to a show on TG4. The show is called 'Splanc: Shirley Temple Bar' and will air Sunday June 11th at 9.20. (repeated Monday 23.15) Shirley is a past winner of the Miss Alternative Ireland contest and has recently shot to fame thru Bingo in the George every Sunday. The show is advertised with the caption 'The extraordinary story of a young man whose drag act became a cult success in Dublin and beyond' Shirley was handing out postcards and signing autographs in the POD last Friday.

Knock Knock

Openhouse - Huge success

The openhouse at the Outhouse yesterday was a huge success, our roving reporter paid a visit around 3.30 and the place was swinging. We were greeted at the top of the stairs and introduced to the center. There was a seminar going on in one of the meeting rooms, we didnt even try to squash in, it was so busy that people were craming in the door. We picked up some information and browsed thru the stalls, one of which had gay memoribila for sale you could purchase everything from rainbow flagged fridge magnets to gay candles.  Click Here to view our feature page on Openhouse

Freedom Celebrates

New look Freedom celebrates its 4th birthday on June 12th, a special party is planned with special guests, lots of birthday gifts and free drink. Freedom is now the longest running one nighter on the scene. Heres to another 4 years.

Bless me father for I have sinned

One of Ireland's best known singers 'Sinead O'Connor' has come out as a lesbian.
buy new album online	The rock-star-turned-priest -who releases her new album 'Faith And Courage' next week announced "I love men but I prefer sex with women and I prefer romantic relationships with women".Sinead made the revelation despite having two children and a string of boyfriends
	She also has apologised to 'all the poor men' she's been involved with
for being afraid to be open about it. "I tried to be something I'm not. I have striven to be straight to hide myself, but I failed miserably with men", The recent revelation has many hoping that Sinead will be making an appearance at pride 2000 next week

Man found in bed with computer

Forming a relationship or even just flirting on the Internet with someone other than your spouse amounts to ``on-line adultery'' and is ``a sin in the eyes of the Church''. Acording to an article in  the Catholic weekly 'Famiglia Cristiana' ``Switching on your computer and exchanging confidences with people you have never met, to relieve the tedium and frustrations of a dull marriage, amounts to betrayal, even if your mistress or lover only exists in the ether,'' the article said. for more info view  http://www.independent.ie/2000/159/w36l.shtml

Pride 2000

We have a page in our features section devoted to Pride 2000, it has a small bit of info on all of the events, including the Queer debs, Parade and Bingo On Wheels. We will build more information into the page as it arrives, We need reviews and articles for Pride 2000 so send them in. To view the pride page click here

Openhouse Info

Click here to view a press release for the Outhouse Openhouse day on Saturday 10th of June.

Freedom Celebrates

New look Freedom celebrates its 4th birthday on June 12th, a special party is planned with special guests, lots of birthday gifts and free drink. Freedom is now the longest running one nighter on the scene. Heres to another 4 years.

Stephen Gately Celebrates

Recently outed Stephen Gately has reached number 3 in the UK charts with his new single 'New Beginning'. It is the biggest new hit of the week and gets his solo career off to a flying start. Meanwhile in attitude magazine Stephen admits he never goes clubbing in Dublin. When asked by interviewer 'Graham Norton' 'When you go back to Dublin do you ever go out on the scene?' Stephen Replied 'No, I never go to clubs, i dont like Clubs. I like to sit in a bar or a restaurant and just have a chat. So those of you sitting by the door of the George expecting the great man to walk in you're wasting your time. Altho I did catch sight of Sinead O'Connor having a quiet drink in there two weeks ago.

www.Gay-Ireland.com celebrates

Our website had its 20,000th visitor on Saturday, June 3rd. You may remember that last month on May 5th we announced our 10,000th visitor so in the space of a month we have doubled our visitor rate. We have a brand new site currently in production and hope to have it online by the end of the month. Included in the site is a gay guide to all the major cities in Ireland. A new improved news system. 5 different chat rooms. More information. A features guide. If you have any articles you would like to submit or a review of a gay venue anywhere in the country then mail it to submit@gay-ireland.com

New Clubs Celebrate

Two new clubs officialy opened their doors last night, Fantasy in Sirens Lounge on the north side of Dublin and Splash in Vicar Street on the south side. We have added two full reviews of these venues which you can find in our 'Guide to Dublin' section.

Outhouse Celebrates

Next Saturday (June 10th) the Outhouse will celebrate its achievements of the past year aswell as celebrating its new ERHA funding. The doors will be open to all and events include face painting, balloons, information programs, films, documentaries, health workshops, tea, coffee and much much more.

Sugar Disintegrates

The Sugar Club is no longer gay on Sunday nights, this is probably due to the huge amount of venues to choose from on a Sunday night. We now have Bingo in the george, Lollipop in Lynch's, Out on the Liffey, The Front Lounge, Gubu, Fantasy, Splash and The Playground. Unfortunatly on Saturday nights there isnt even half the choice. 

Lynch's Illuminates

There has been a number of changes taking place in Lynchs bar on Thomas street ever since they announced it going gay seven days a week. They have intoduced a new UV light (mega gay!) over the public side of the bar near the beer taps. So people with dandruff wearing black leather jackets or similar should beware!! The second change noticed  was the errection of a neon sign projecting from the front of the building with "3" crosses on it. The 3 crosses also appear on the new adverts for Lynch's aparantly the idea comes from the crest of Amsterdam and is widely used over there.

Fantasy becomes  reality

June 4th see's the official launch of 'Fantasy'. The club has been warming up the past few Sundays and is now ready to cut the red ribbon and formally anounce its presence on the Dublin scene.  Fantasy is taking over from 'Heroes' nightclub and is being promoted by the same folk that promote Thursday nights in Heaven (popular gay nightclub in London). They hope to offer a more relaxed vibe than the other clubs.

The venue itself oozes style, with large leather couch's, mood setting lights and probably the best set of DJ's in Dublin Tony Walsh (from the POD), Martin McCann (also from the POD) and Stevie Walker (from the Kremlin). There is free admission before 11 and £5.00 afterwards.

And in the blue corner...

Also having its launch party this Sunday is 'Splash' another new primarily gay club. Splash hopes to attract top UK chart acts to persorm on stage. They already have 'Fragma' and 'ATB' signed up to make appearances. Miss Alternative Ireland winner 'Siobhan Broadway' will be the hostess with the mostess. With all this choice about Sundays are begining to look very interesting.

Newspaper report on internet chat channels

Dublin newspaper 'The Evening Herald' dated Tuesday May 30th carried a special front page investigation on internet chat rooms. Specificaly those of a sexual nature. The reporter 'Conor Lally' posed as a fifteen year old girl and entered chat channels of a sexual nature. He reported his findings across a three page article in the newspaper. They are most concerned that no chat rooms online carry warnings towards their content. There is also concern at how easy it is for 'teenagers' to access the chat rooms.

Apples and pears

The coffee and juice bar with the corniest name in Dublin 'Sejuiced' has turned gay on Fridays. Being close to the POD it is sure to be a big hit with the HAM crowd. Wine is also available from their menu so late night party animals can head there for a fruit juice. The bar is gay friendly every other night.