David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator O'Loughlin on bringing forward the Bill, which is very necessary. I am unusual, at least I hope I am unusual, in the House, in that I have personally known nine men to have been murdered. Among them I include Declan Flynn, with whom I was quite friendly. Declan was a shy young man. He worked in Aer Lingus. He went to Bartley Dunne's, which was a gay pub at the time. Some of his colleagues from work were there on a jaunt and saw him and started teasing him about it. He was ashamed and he never went back. Instead, he went looking for company in Fairview Park and he was murdered for that. He was brutally murdered. Even worse, the judge hearing the case let the young men who committed the act off with nothing, not even a reprimand. This was a licence to kill. It was a really shocking thing. I have been involved myself.Some years ago I was talking to a friend in Parnell Street and this trio went past me. There was a young woman in the middle of them and she grabbed my genitals. I said, "Unhand me, Madame. You know not what you touch." With that, one of the other fellows said, "That's the fellow off the television", and the third one said, "That's the effing queer off the television", and he clouted me. I immediately got the gardaí, and they caught them. They were sentenced to pay me €1,000. I asked the garda if I could have the address and he said, "For what?" I told them it was so that I could write and thank them. He said he did not think that would be a good idea at all.

I had my lip split on my own front door. I have had death threats, some of which were quite funny. One man rang me and said, "I'd like to come around there and shove a machine gun up your arse". He then thought about it for a minute and said, "Only I suppose you'd effing enjoy that too". These are the people-----