Labour seeks State apology for those criminalised for being gay

Labour has called on the Taoiseach to apologise on behalf of the State to gay and lesbian people who were jailed and criminalised in Ireland under “chilling” laws before 1993.

Senators Ged Nash and Ivana Bacik made the request as they launched an opposition bill seeking to “address the historic wrong by the State”.

Until 1993, homosexuality was illegal in Ireland, with roughly 2,000 people brought before the courts under the controversial rules over the first seven decades of Irish independence.