Mr. Gay Ireland 2014 - The Journey

            Mr. Gay Ireland 2014 - Meet the Title Holders

                                                    Mr Gay Ireland - The Journey

Well, this is the very first blog, the first of many, each addressing different issues within the LGBT community. So stay tuned and I'll hopefully enlighten you and we shall all become martyrs of the LGBT community, if that seems like to much effort, don't fret, I shall fill these up with thousands of pretty pictures.

My first blog however is light heartened. It is based on all things Mr. Gay Ireland and what it has brought to all the contestants this year. What a journey it has been indeed. It's safe to say, depression has kicked in, sitting at a desk in work, reminiscing about the madness that has been the last 4 weeks. So here are the current reigning title holders within your community. If you have any issue, such as coming out, needing information on local supports, or even wanting to know when the next gay night out is on, contact these lads, they don't bite much at all. (Listed under their art projects below).

This is a visualization of the journey we all took to get the amazing amount raised for The New Fill Project, thanks to JamesMitchellTV, youtube sensation, this is quite the tear-jerker for all us contestants, give it a look :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hox7K0KHKEM 

So as you may or may not know, Mr. Gay Ireland was set up 9 years ago and since has raised over €142,000 for HIV related projects. An absolute incredible amount of money that has helped countless of people living with HIV throughout the years. This year in particular, the money raised was giving to The New Fill Project which is a facial restoration project for people living with HIV. After years of taking their anti-retro viral medication, people living with HIV begin to undergo a process of facial muscle wasting and it gives their face an unhealthy look. Thanks to modern medicine, people living with HIV are completely healthy on the inside but the outside says differently. In the words of Brian Merriman, organizer and founder of Mr. Gay Ireland, "It is absolutely incredible that we can bring such young and handsome faces from all around Ireland, and use these effectively to give healthy faces back to those who are living with HIV".

So this alone is reason enough to get involved in the competition. And as a whole we collectively raised €12,000 towards the charity this year. Boladh bos to gach duine involved (thank God, Irish isn't a requirement for the competition). What an absolute amazing achievement and everybody coming out of this competition can do so proudly. But that is not all what the competition brings. It was the best fun EVER. All will agree. The fun begins from the word GO, the moment you win your title, you get straight into you. You throw yourself in to the public eye, raise awareness for the charity, organize fundraisers, create a network of contacts and make the most incredible friends. This may seem overwhelming but we all reveled in it.

Then the competition comes into play. On the Friday you get a meet and greet with all the other contestants and the organizers of the competition. You get every accent you can imagine. Don't get me started on the Cork accent. No offence to all you Corkians, I'm just Cork illiterate, along with the rest of Ireland.  We also had the pleasure of meeting previous winners, Robbie O' Bara who was Mr. Gay Ireland 2013 & Mr. Gay Europe 2013 (<--- thanks Robbie, I don't have much to live up to at all ;)) Mr. Gay Northern Ireland, Conor O' Kane, AND Mr. Gay Aruba, Ashley Peternella who came 3rd in Mr. Gay World. So it was all very exciting. We all bonded over a glass or four of The Front Lounges finest Chardonnay and a good old fashion dance, no better way in my opinion.

Saturday was a big day for all involved. The competition is judged on 9 different sections and the art and interview section was played out on the Saturday. If you scroll down you will get to see all the art projects and what the contestants wanted to convey through their artistic ability, lets just say, its a good thing we were all pretty. Then we got to meet with thee most incredible people, people who helped equip each title holder with information to confidently go back to their LGBT community and be the best representative they can be. We met sexual health consultants from the Guide Clinic, a lead organizer of Gay Switchboard Ireland and two of the leading guards involved in G-Force.

Then the party started that night. We all made a brilliant impression with the organizer of Mr Gay Europe with our rendition of YMCA on stage in the George, topless. Videos to prove it. When I say impress, I meant deafened indefinitely. As I said previously, its a good thing we are all pretty.

So all bright and doe eyed on the Sunday morning we go to the Arlington hotel, where we are thrown straight into rehearsals, although we all thought it would be the longest day ever, it absolute flew by. I strongly suggest bringing skittles, lucazade, sugar cubes, anything that gives you that kick you need because my God! They starve you. Although, when you see the swimwear, you may not want to eat ever again. It brings the phrase "tighty whities" to a whole new level. And then the competition all kicked off.

The topic round is the most personal and emotion provoked section of the whole competition, where the contestants come out and talk about the LGBT issue that is most important to them. I'm very sure there were a few teary eyed on lookers, I myself wasn't sure whether I was crying or whether it was just sweating, maybe a bit of both (suits and a million lights on you are a horrendous combination).

And then the winners were announced. A very deserving winner, and a winner that will go on to do incredible things with North and South relations, as well as everything LGBT up North is Mr Gay Northern Ireland, Patrick Murdock. Mr Congeniality was giving to the gorgeous Ciaran Purcell, a winner from day 1 as he is thee most awesome and welcoming person in the world, and my God, he looked well in his swimwear ;). 2nd Runner Up was Nick Flanagan, who is a complete babe and plays a Dothraki in Game of Thrones, I think that sums up his awesomeness all in one, Nick is an incredible man from out West and who has become such a good friend to everyone throughout this whole competition. And then there was Donal Dalziel, 1st runner up, a man like no other. I have never thought I would see such a perfect advocate for "Dope" clothing. His dance skills alone will leave you open mouthed and if that's not enough, possibly one of the funniest men I have ever encountered. A man that be an absolute amazing representative in Mr Gay Europe and World if the current winner of Mr. Gay Ireland fell down a flight of stairs, which I hope that doesn't happen, as it was I who was fortunate enough to win the title, Mr. Gay Ireland 2014. YAY. To say I am grateful for the title is an understatement, I shall use it with enthusiasm and will do my utmost best to represent Ireland in Mr. Gay Europe and Mr Gay World 2014. 

So that is the Journey of Mr. Gay Ireland. I gave a good 50 million reasons to compete in Mr. Gay Ireland next year and I can guarantee that it is all I have said and more. Stay tuned to my blogs and see what I have been doing with my title and follow all your local title holders. A list will be given at the end of this blog. Now sit back and enjoy all of our art projects. The art projects themselves may not be Picasso-esque but each do have an amazing concept behind them ... and many of them involve topless men :)!

                                                  The Art Project

Comment on what you think of the art. They vary from fighting against stigma, equal rights, pride in ones self to just giving a smile and a hug. Each are all important to the community and we wanted to share these with you all, we hope you enjoy! Photographs courtesy of thee amazing Louise Hannon. 

              Philip Kelly (Mr. Gay Carlow)      Darragh Gaskin (Mr. Gay Dragon)     Dermott Harvety (Mr. Gay Dublin Devils)

Nick Flanagan (Mr. Gay Galway)                 Ciaran O' Purcell (Mr. Gay GBar)               Geraldo Selvia (Mr. Gay George)

Roy O' Flynn (Mr. Gay Ruby Lounge)       Pepe Oliveira (Mr. Gay Panti Bar)      Donal Dalziel (Mr. Gay Limerick)

Stiofan O Spealain (Mr. Gay Loafers)   Stefano Iannelli (Mr. Gay Tipperary)           Robbie Lawlor (Mr. Gay Ireland)

Patrick Murdock (Mr. Gay Northern Ireland)    Bobby Leane (Mr. Gay Kerry)            Mark Graham (Mr. Gay Laois)

Robbie Brennan (Mr. Gay Kilkenny) empowering the tank top! ;)

Micheal O' Riordain (Mr. Gay Cork)  So artistic he did two projects!