LGBT

Community workers tell how LGBT+ organisations are working to tackle rural isolation and what is needed.

Society on the whole tends to view older people as non-sexual beings. Inaccurate as that may be, it is nothing new. However, it can have a particularly detrimental effect on the healthcare needs of those in the LGBT+ community. Since 2018, a course for health and social care professionals has been helping to make healthcare settings more welcoming.

“I can’t go to any bar. They hear my accent, look at my appearance and they think I’m violent, it’s that negative stereotype," - Martin Mongan, Donegal Travellers Project A major study of Travellers’ lives in Dublin published in mid-February pointed to racism and discrimination for directly leading to many Traveller suicides. Research among a smaller group, focused specifically on Traveller men’s mental health, came to the same conclusion. This study was launched in December in Donegal and it marked the first time that Travellers themselves conducted all the research. Facilitated by David Friel, the first Traveller in the North West to be educated to Masters level, the research paints a picture of the daily lives of 12 Traveller men living in Donegal.