What are you doing for the Patrick's Day parade here in Longford Town?
Well, we're very excited this year.
We have got the loan of the Dublin Pride flag and we're going to be carrying that at 60 foot long by 20 foot wide.
It's going to create a little bit of a stir, going through the middle of Longford.
So the gays have certainly arrived and we're really excited.
We've got a lot of straight allies here as well helping us along.
So it's going to help create a great profile for the forthcoming referendum as well.
Next, can you give a big round of applause please for dear friends of ours.
Come back to us every year for the last few years since we started Longford LGBT.
Delighted to have them in our parade every year and as always a lovely colourful entry for them.
So a big round of applause please for the members of the LGBT.
And a part of our community and particularly in the years we look forward to the equality referendum.
Again, a big round of applause please for the LGBT who get the prize for the biggest flag in the parade.
It was an experience the first time I've ever been in one.
To be quite honest, I felt a bit vulnerable.
You know, there were a lot of people very close to us and I suppose you get used to these things.
But for the first time I felt just a wee bit out there.
So Declan, how do you think today's parade went?
I think it was absolutely wonderful.
This is the third year that Longford LGBT have been in the Patrick's Parade
and we were invited back to join the parade.
So we've always got great support from the people of Longford
and the response we got as we passed the parade route today from the people was absolutely wonderful.
I think it shows that for such a rural area Longford has a wonderful relationship with LGBT community
and I've always given us great support.
You're also of course involved in the referendum.
How is the preparations for that going?
We are really getting stuck into it now at the moment.
Through Yes Equality Longford we have the Facebook page set up on the Twitter account
and one of the ongoing projects we are doing is getting video montages of people pledging their support for it.
As an example last night we got Charlie McGeddigan to do a video
and Eddie Valentine, one of the local publicans in town here.
So we're getting great support for that and putting them out, retweeting them, drumming up support.
So you're from Yes Equality Litrum, how is that going for you at the moment?
At the moment it's going very well, we're just really getting started and trying to get the engines revved up for our particular wing of it.
We've got a nice membership base because we also work from the LGBT Litrum group that we set up, which is just a grassroots group.
So a lot of the membership are volunteering their time, their energy into it
and trying to get hold of people and talk to their friends, their family about it more
and they've been more empowered from that to talk to their friends and family.
How is your preparations for the referendum going?
It's been really good, we are gathering volunteers every week and we're surprised, not surprised, very very happy
with the number of people who are positively coming out in favour of a yes vote on the 22nd of May.
And you'd be confident of a yes vote?
Well I don't know is confident a word that I would use in relation to what we will do is to do our best to maximise the people here.
And to get a maximum vote here in the Longford region.
It's about keeping the profile as bright as possible because the danger with this is of course,
while the polls are giving large majorities in favour, people still actually have to get out and vote.
So we'd be guarding against apathy in that regard.
So I would see the yes equality campaign being to the forefront and keeping in people's minds
and getting people motivated to get out and vote.
As one of the guys at the yes equality launch set, this referendum is giving us protection of the law more so than protection of the closet.
Thank you.
