Future of Cork Pride festival in doubt as operators call in liquidators

The proposed liquidation of Cork LGBT+ Pride CLG is a huge blow for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) supporters in Ireland, with this year’s Pride parade in the city attracting an estimated 5,000 participants.

The organisation also publishes an annual magazine and is linked to the Work With Pride professional business network.

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Cork LGBT+ Pride became a company limited by guarantee, or a non-profit, in 2019. A report in GCN said the first Cork Pride parade took place in 2006.

A meeting of creditors of Cork LGBT+ Pride is to be held on Wednesday in Midleton, according to a notice in the Irish Daily Star. During the meeting, the company will propose Gerard Murphy of Gerard Murphy & Co Accountants as its liquidator.

The Sunday Independent understands the insolvency has come about due to a debt Cork LGBT+ Pride owes a creditor.

It is further understood the company is not being forced into the proposed liquidation by any creditor. The directors of the company are complying with their obligations under the Companies Act due to being insolvent.

Cork LGBT+ Pride had successfully held multiple events this year.

In July, Damien O’ Halloran, vice chair of Cork Pride, told the Irish Independent that committee members had been fearful they could lose sponsors due to the rhetoric coming from the US. However, he said the festival had received huge financial support.

“A lot of our sponsors are large US multinationals and pharma,” he said. “We thought we might lose a couple of our big sponsors but we didn’t, actually, so that was encouraging.”

After the organisation’s Cork Pride parade in early August, O’Halloran told the Irish Examiner about some of the issues the LGBT+ community face.

“A lot of bullies now have a voice, they are standing up because they are not afraid anymore and when you see leaders across the globe demonstrating rhetoric like that, people aren’t afraid anymore to say what they want because there is no sanction.”

Other directors of Cork LGBT+ Pride include Denise Boyle, who is the chair of the organisation, and James Darren Fitzgerald.

Despite some successes, Cork LGBT+ Pride also has been embroiled in a row over the dismissal of one of its employees regarding allegations of misconduct.

In June, the employee, Kery Mullaly, was granted a High Court interim injunction lifting a suspension he had been subject to over the misconduct claims.

Last month, a High Court judge said the dispute was “crying out for mediation”.

Mullaly, a business developer, was the only full-time employee of the Cork LGBT+ Pride Festival. He claims he was suspended last September without any prior notice of eight misconduct allegations against him. He has vehemently denied all of the allegations.

The DEI agenda has been in focus having come in for criticism from US President Donald Trump. He has sought to curb DEI policies in firms dealing with the US government.