Thousands attend 30th annual Dublin Gay Pride Parade

Dublin's annual Gay Pride Parade celebrated its 30th year on Saturday.

The parade, which attracted large crowds in Dublin's city center, was the culmination of a ten-day festival. The theme for this year's parade was "Live, Love & Be Proud."

The parade began at 2pm at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square and traveled down O'Connell Street to finish at the Pride Village in Merrion Square. An estimated crowd of 30,000 turned out for the event.

Among the marchers this year were the Marriage Equality Network and Amnesty International.

Andrew Hyland, 36, told the Irish Times that the parade gave participants "a real sense of connection" with the LGBT community.

“It’s the one day for our community to unite under one banner and if there’s any issues which are affecting us as a community for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people it’s really important that we come together and represent each other for that,” said Hyland, who has taken part in the parade for the past 16 years.