Emerald Isle seeks share in pink pound
By Brendan Nolan
Dublin is bidding to create a gay area similar to London's Soho in a bid to attract more homosexual tourists. And London is poised to start a campaign in the USA to increase the number of gay American visitors (see panel).
But as both cities battle for the lucrative gay market, the owners of Dublin guesthouses specialising in gay visitors have given a thumbs-down to a proposal to designate South William Street as the focus of the city's gay community.
The original proposal came from Brian Finnegan, arts editor of the Irish publication Gay Community News. He said: "There has been a huge change in the way we see ourselves. A gay street would be a safe place to be seen in public."
The street runs parallel to bustling Grafton Street. But it has no gay presence beyond a few sex shops, a newsletter office and a drop-in centre.
Declan Murphy, co-owner of the Inn on the Liffey, which attracts a gay clientele, is one of many guesthouse keepers who rejected the idea.
"People will go where they want to go. Businesses are better in clusters rather than in a designated street," he said.
Dublin has been attracting increasing numbers of gay tourists since a 1993 law made 17 the age of consent for gays and ended a previous ban on all homosexual activity.
All openly gay guesthouses in Dublin are reporting full houses in January, without the benefit of a designated area. And each said they tell heterosexuals about the house speciality before taking a booking.
"We always tell them we are gay-friendly when they are booking," said Murphy. "Some stay, others go somewhere else. We try to keep our customers happy."
