Tens of thousands of marchers turned Dublin into a riot of colour and fun as the Pride parade made its way through the capital on Saturday.
Cops, politicians, comedians, and celebrities joined with gay rights activists on the three-hour long march which began at lunchtime.
Leo Varadkar, wearing a red tee shirt, laughed and joked as he walked alongside 100 gardai and PSNI officers.
A beaming Taoiseach declared: “It’s a real honour to be here at Pride.
“It’s only the third time I’ve been, my second time as Taoiseach and the first time joined here with the gardai and the PSNI, also defence forces and the public service too.
“So a really great turnout and a beautiful day in Dublin city so happy Pride everyone.
“It’s really important that we say to anyone who is anybody who is thinking of joining our public service, whether it’s the civil service, the defence forces or the gardai that we’re an inclusive employer and if you’re gay or lesbian, or bisexual, transgender we understand that and you’ll be welcome.
“It’s also a really important message to young people to kids: you only live once - be the person you are.”
Leo was flanked by fellow ministers Charlie Flanagan, Eoghan Murphy, Simon Harris and Paschal Donohoe.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said it was very important that members of the force were participating in the parade in uniform.
“We are here for a number of very good reasons, one to show that we’re a diverse organisation, we want to be an inclusive organisation and being here in uniform is a physical manifestation of that.
“Secondly we’re here to protect people from hate crime and we ask people who are subject to, or victims of, hate crime and hate incidents that they report those incidents.
“And lastly this is about us demonstrating to all of our staff that we’re an inclusive organisation and we want diversity within An Garda Siochana.”
The parade started at the Garden of Remembrance and headed down O’Connell Street, Eden Quay and past Liberty Hall before crossing the Liffey at Talbot Bridge and finishing at a free, outdoor event at Merrion Square.
Organisers said it was the largest in the event’s history.
The parade took over three hours to pass down O’Connell Street.
The first Dublin Pride parade took place in 1983 with 200 participants.
This year’s event included more than 150 groups.
A number of ‘firsts’ took place during the day including the flying of rainbow flags above both the GPO and Leinster House.
Members of the public service took part marching under the theme - Proud to Work for Ireland.
Eddie McGuinness, Pride Manager, said 50 years on from Stonewall in New York it was important to remember Pride was originally a riot.
Back then there were a series of riots and clashes with between police and gay activists outside a gay bay in NY.
Eddie said: “But, 50 years on we are saying Ireland is on its way to being equal, no matter who you are.”
Dublin is bidding to host Euro Pride in 2022, when potentially a quarter of a million people could come to Ireland from all over Europe, Eddie said.
He added: ““We are protecting what Pride is. We can be a beacon”.
One of the officers taking part, Garda Niall O’Connor, said it was an emotional day.
“I marched in Belfast two years ago, so to march in Dublin with my uniform today is wonderful.
“There are two parts to me - one is being a garda and the other is my sexuality. I don’t want either to define me. It is a proud day to be able to do this.”
