Last month, a number of friends (drawn from this parish, Sunday Books, Foggy Notions and more besides) launched ‘ASK’, a new monthly night which aims to bring together people with eclectic music tastes and raise money for good causes in the process. Our first night in the MVP bar benefited MASI, a migrants rights group. Our second night is for the Gay Switchboard, and includes guest DJ Tonie Walsh. It takes place next Thursday and begins at the earlier time of 7pm.
Historic Gay Switchboard promotional material, scanned from Brand New Retro exhibition at the Little Museum of Dublin.
In March 1979, the Hirschfeld Centre in Dublin’s Temple Bar opened its doors. A gay community centre named in honour of the pioneering gay rights campaigner Magnus Hirschfeld, a speech heralded the centre as “living proof of gay people’s new found pride…testimony to the fact that the gay citizens of Ireland need no longer fear to be openly ourselves.” David Norris would later recall the the enormous crowds who arrived to celebrate the new venture:
The first night the Hirschfeld Centre opened there were three or four hundred people in the place, and when I went to check downstairs I could the floorboards were bouncing. A member who was also a structural engineer approached to say it could be dangerous, so I had the music switched off. I addressed the the throng and told them they could have a refund, or they could stay and chat to their friends and the coffee bar was free for the night, but there would be no more dancing that evening. I was booed and hissed at before one guy stood up and said ‘Hold on a minute, Isn’t it just as well there is someone who does give a shit about our safety?’ and the boos turned into cheers!
“Like any disco in town, except….”
Predating even the Hirschfeld Centre, the Gay Switchboard has been providing a crucial service for more than four decades. Beginning life as TEL-A-FRIEND in the days before decriminalisation, it is now the longest running LGBT voluntary organisation in Ireland. The body does not receive state funding, instead depending on the good will and support of the public and the community it benefits.
Historic Gay Switchboard promotional material, scanned from Brand New Retro exhibition at the Little Museum of Dublin.
We’re delighted that our second night in MVP will benefit this important cause. Special Guest DJ on the night is Tonie Walsh, who requires no introduction but who I will wax lyrical about anyway. As archivist of the Irish Queer Archive (housed in the National Library of Ireland) and through his famous walking tours of LGBT Dublin, Tonie has done much to promote the history of Ireland’s LGBT community. As an activist of decades standing, he has fought for change in Irish society. As a DJ, he knows a good tune and was central to the story of Flikkers, the now legendary club dimension of the Hirschfeld Centre. Tonie’s reminiscences to the recent documentary Notes on Rave in Dublin were one of the highlights of that project.
Visiting the Hirschfeld Centre at the time of its opening, The Irish Times commented on “the massive disco speakers and imported record collection straight from New York’s most up-to-date record shop.” While we may lack the massive speakers, we promise a fun night of great music, visuals and more besides in the wonderful surroundings of MVP.
MVP is located at 29 Upper Clanbrassil St, Dublin 8. Bígí Linn.
