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G-Spot Returns for one night only

Starring KATHERINE LYNCH
Actress/Writer/Producer

Wednesday 23rd June 2010, Panti Bar, Capel Street, Dublin 1 @ 9pm

Katherine Lynch is coming home with her out ragous and funny show G-Spot. This is where Katherine had her show for over 5 years at GuBu (now Panti Bar). Along side some of here co-stars Paddy Fagan, Kristin Kapelli and Guests. This event is not to be missed!

Let’s start with a few facts about Katherine Lynch: The highest rated home produced comedy series on RTE 2 for the second year in a row, a top rated Christmas special, reaching the final of Celebrity Banisteoir and a new series in the pipeline all in the space of 2 years! Not bad at all for a girl from Mohill, in the lovely county of Leitrim.

After ditching her earlier ambitions to be a barber Katherine hung up her scissors and comb for good in 1998 when she was crowned Alternative Miss Ireland by a panel of celebrity judges headed up by music supremo Louis Walsh for her portrayal of spoof Country and Western "Tampon Info-merical Queen, Miss Tampy Lylette". After getting a taste for the limelight, Katherine, a grand niece of celebrated poet Patrick Kavanagh, and her co-creator, Warren Meyler, developed numerous characters and honed their skills in various residencies for over a decade.

Katherine finally made the leap to TV in 2007 where she has spotted in a small cameo role in RTE's late night comedy "The Unbelievable Truth" which led to a commissioned by to make her very own pilot.

Lynch's left of field attitude and playful disregard for political correctness has so far done her proud. Produced by Katherine's and her co-writers own production company WAKA TV the series has attracted a huge following the length and breadth of the country. Populated by a host of Katherine's larger than life creations, sometimes naughty and often spontaneous, Katherine's TV and live shows intertwine the fantastical lives of Katherine's menagerie of slightly weird yet strangely lovable characters.

Leitrim's very own gormless gaffer LIZ HURLEY with her anecdotes of everything from sheep dipping to sheep tipping, singing with Mohills premier AC/DC tribute band 50/50 and coaching her beloved football team, The Mohill Lassies. Liz mightn't have had the height for the Gaurds but she definitely had the balls! Then there's Tallaghtfornian man sponge and serial divorcee SHEILA CHIC, a woman who's gone through more dodgy foreigners than the Eurovision and last but never least, traveling "Country 'n Irish" Lino Legend Singing Bernie Walsh, with her songs about love, life and carpet remnants.

With 10 sell out Vicar Street dates in no less than six months, the number one comedy DVD this Christmas, a sell out nationwide tour under her belt and another in the offing, 2010 looks set to be another good year for Leitrim funny girl, Katherine Lynch!

21st June 2010

Government Drops Appeal in Historic Transgender Case

Dr. Lydia Foy is Grand Marshall of this Year's Pride Parade

The Government has withdrawn its appeal to the Supreme Court in the case of transgender woman Lydia Foy, Grand Marshall of Dublin Pride 2010. It has accepted a High Court ruling that Irish law on transgender rights is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), said the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC), which represented Dr Foy.

The Taoiseach must now report the Court’s decision to the Dáil within 21 sitting days and the Government will have to introduce legislation to recognise transgender persons in their new gender and allow them to get new birth certificates or face condemnation by the European Court of Human Rights.

Former dentist Dr Lydia Foy, who was registered at birth as male, has succeeded in her 13-year battle for legal recognition as a woman and for a birth certificate showing her sex as female.

Speaking today, Oisín O' Reilly Chairperson of Dublin Pride welcomed the news 'This is fantastic, and couldn't of come sooner, we're delighted to be honouring Dr. Lydia Foy as Grand Marshall of this year's Pride Parade. She has fought what I am sure at times seemed like a uphill battle and has won. It is the dedication of people such as Lydia that have made such a huge difference in the lives of so many.'

21st June, 2010

Dublin LGBTQ Pride Calls on Irelands Sporting Organizations to Combat Homophobia in Sport

Today as part of the International Day Against Homophobia Dublin Pride has called on Ireland’s sporting organizations to adopt the statement below as a framework to combat homophobia within sport in Ireland.

Speaking today, Eddie Mc Guinness, Press Officer for Dublin Pride said "On a personal level, athletes and figures involved in the sports world are no more homophobic than any other people. Yet, the sports environment is weighed down by a heavy silence on anything dealing with sexual diversity.

What's surprising is how an entire sector of society seems to have escaped the progress of the last thirty years, a time when society grew sensitive to sexual diversity and sexual minority issues."

Dublin Pride is calling on the Gaelic Athletic Association, The Football Association of Ireland & The Irish Rugby Football Union to adopt the declaration below as a professional standard and framework within which to tackle homophobia in Irish sport.

Homophobia originates from a stereotypical image of what a man should be and of what a woman should be. In the sports world, masculinity and femininity can only be heterosexual.

However, boys who are gay and girls who are lesbians are also attracted to sports and wish to take part in them or make a career out of it. People entering athletic organizations know what rules to play by: being gay or lesbian needs to be tucked away into the closet and silence becomes master of the game.

The sports world needs to join in society's progress, put an end to the silence on LGBTQ issues, and get involved in the fight against homophobia.

Dublin Pride Reprehends New York City's St. Patrick's Day Parade

Today Dublin LGBTQ Pride has criticised the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City for its failure to include and allow representatives from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender groups participate in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York. The exclusion of LGBT groups from the St. Patrick's Day festivities is inherently discriminatory and un-Irish.

"The exclusion of any groups from celebrating our national holiday abroad is deeply discriminatory and rooted in close mindedness; this is deeply un-Irish and something that we cannot allow to happen in the name of an event that is about celebrating Ireland's rich cultural heritage, of which the LGBT community are a corner stone here in Ireland", said Frank Cleary, Chairperson of Dublin Pride today.

Dublin Pride is calling on the organisers of the St. Patrick's Day festival in New York to cease their discrimination and to facilitate a full expression of the cultural diversity that exists in Ireland.

16th March, 2010

Dublin Pride Proud to Support Alternative Miss Ireland XVI 2010

The ribald beauty pageant with a big pink & green heart, Alternative Miss Ireland, celebrates her 16th pageant this March 14th at the Olympia Theatre, Dublin. Open to men, women and others, this pageant puts contestants (the Aspiring Queen Cailíns) through traditional rounds of Daywear, Swimwear and Eveningwear – though right there is where tradition ends and the insanity begins. The cohort of Cailíns battle it out on stage for the much coveted AMI Crown that currently resides on the head of the reigning Queen of Ireland, Miss Smilin’ Kanker.

At AMI there are no boundaries of beauty, gender, creativity or even taste. The stage will be shared by the most dazzling of preening drag-queens, and then by a raging monster of debatable gender with rapier political wit sporting heels and make-up to match. And then every possible living thing in-between. Though, at times, the term ‘living’ is itself under scrutiny with some of the contestants.

Presiding over the show, like the glamorous goddess of the good-times, is Panti. Encouraging the Aspiring Queens through their performances (and away from the edge of the stage), Panti holds the show from curtain up, all the while holding the audience close to her welcoming bosom.

The contestants compete for the title alone, there is no prize money. The winner, the AMI Crown and other awards, are decided upon by an annual gaggle of judges, comprised of leading lights from culture, politics and the celebrity gutter, this year's panel includes the outrageous Le Gateau Chocolat and Mr Gert Jonkers, the editor and publisher of Butt Magazine and Fantastic Man.

Between the rounds of abject beauty, AMI presents astonishing performances from some international stars, and a few old Queens, including Heidi Konnt (AMI XI), Le Gateau Chocolat (La Clique) and the DC Cowboys (America’s Got Talent!). And of course, a farewell performance by the reiging Queen of Ireland Miss Smilin’ Kanker.

Alternative Miss Ireland is the most riotous, hilarious and baudy night to be had in Ireland — always a full house right up to the gods. And at the same time raising an incredible amount of money for Irish HIV/AIDS organisations (over €275,000 since 1996). The money raised has been instrumental in the development of a variety of HIV/AIDS related programmes across the country, each one with different concerns — from children to parents; prevention to post-infection healthcare; education, well-being and self-esteem.

SWEET SIXTEEN AND THE QUEEN IS DEAD — LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!