Stephen’s Green was a riot of glitterbeards, rainbow facepaint and all manner of colourful costumes as thousands thronged the city centre for the annual Dublin Pride parade on Saturday.

The pinnacle of a week-long schedule of events in the capital in celebration of its LGBT+ population, the weather mercifully held out for the afternoon as legions of proud participants marched through the Liberties, past Christ Church and into Smithfield for the culminating Pride Party.

However, one particularly prominent guest-speaker at the pre-parade rally on Stephen’s Green was less than enthused by the changed route this year, which was necessitated due to the ongoing Luas Cross City works on O’Connell Street.

“We’ve got to reclaim O’Connell Street,” roared Senator David Norris.

“We’re not the backstreet girls and the backstreet boys. It’s like telling Patrick Pearse in Easter 1916 ‘forget about the GPO, use Sandymount Post Office instead’, and next year we’re not taking it!”