Joanna’s journey from passionate LGBTQ+ ally to Roscommon Pride’s Grand Marshal

For LGBTQ+ people, allies are vital — they are the building blocks that hold the community up, supporting people when they need it most.

There are few allies who are quite as committed as Joanna O’Reilly. Through her work with Foróige, Joanna has spent years working with the county’s LGBTQ+ youth group, and she was instrumental in setting up Roscommon Pride, the annual LGBTQ+ festival.

In recognition of the vital work she does, Joanna has been named Grand Marshal for this year’s Roscommon Pride. Roscommon Pride is running until Sunday, August 23rd and today,  Saturday, August 22nd, Joanna will lead the Pride Parade starting at 2.30 p.m. from the Quad Youth Centre and making its way to Loughnaneane Park.

When Joanna reflects on her own journey towards becoming an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, she says she simply “fell into” it.

“I remember at school knowing a couple of my friends were in the LGBTQ community, but they could never talk to us or could never say it,” Joanna explains. “Two of them would have been good friends of mine and I remember knowing that they were probably gay but would never be able to talk about it freely.” Years later, when the opportunity to work with LGBTQ+ young people in Roscommon presented itself, Joanna jumped at the opportunity.

“We started with four or five young people, and we went to nearly 15 at one stage. But for me it was to see young people come in, feel safe, feel that they were able to come in the door.” 

 Joanna and her Foróige colleagues worked tirelessly to give the LGBTQ+ youth group positive experiences while also providing a space for them to be themselves. She recalls how they got drag queens to come in and do make-up, costume and performance tutorials with the group, and they had a mini-Pride celebration in The Quad where young LGBTQ+ people were treated to a drag performance.

“They were all sitting there with their Pride flags, watching these queens performing, and it was lovely. We had Pride cake and we had our own little celebration in the hall here. Those were the baby steps to starting a Pride of our own.” Joanna always believed that there would one day be a proper Pride celebration in Roscommon — but the young people she worked with weren’t so easily convinced.

“I remember saying to them, one day we’re going to have Pride here in Roscommon — and they all burst out laughing at me. They said, that’ll never happen, and I said, yes, it will, because it’s something that everybody should have on their doorstep. You shouldn’t have to travel to be part of a community, your community should be here.” 

The idea of having Pride in Roscommon never really left Joanna’s mind, but it wasn’t until she received a call “out of the blue” from Karina Murray — now Roscommon Pride’s events manager — that the idea really came to fruition. Karina was also interested in making Pride happen, so finally, the wheels were in motion.

A meeting was called, and to Joanna’s surprise, a large group of people showed up who wanted to help out. That led to the first ever Roscommon Pride being held in August 2024. Since then, it’s gone from strength to strength, and Pride returned this year for an entire week.

As Grand Marshal, Joanna wants to show the young people she’s worked with over the years that she will always stand with them.

“It’s not for glorification or anything like that, it’s so the young people will see, well she’s proud to walk with us and stand with us, she’s not just saying it, and I think that’s really important for young people.” 

She adds: “We’re all in the one world and just because people love somebody different to you, it shouldn’t make any difference. I want families and parents especially to see that it’s OK to walk with their children.” 

Ultimately, her vision is of a future where LGBTQ+ can be fully themselves, without fear of discrimination — and she knows that the only way this can happen is if loud, passionate allies like her take a stand.

“I just feel that everybody should have a right to be on their own doorstep and to be safe to go outside that door. It shouldn’t matter who you love — we’re all human beings.”