Pride, Panti and Penny

THE SOCIAL NETWORK:Declan Buckley, otherwise known as the drag queen Shirley Temple Bar, said that although he's looking forward to today's Pride parade, he was enjoying the Alternative Miss Ireland: This is Your Life event at the Panti Bar on Capel Street on Tuesday evening, as part of the Pride Week celebrations.

Rory O’Neill emphasised that his alter ego’s name is “Panti” and not “Miss Panti”. Panti is Grand Marshall for the parade, which will begin at 2pm today at the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square and will make its way to Merrion Square for Pride in the Park. O’Neill was accompanied by his dog, Penny.

Afterwards, fans walked over to Meeting House Square in Temple Bar for a screening of the Alternative Miss Ireland pageant, which took place at the Olympia Theatre in March.

The actor Tony Flynn enjoyed the evening. He played the Queen of Hearts in the recent production of Alice in Funderland at the Abbey and is in rehearsals for the role of the barman in The Plough and the Stars, also for the National Theatre. The O’Casey play opens on August 1st at the O’Reilly Theatre in Belevedere College, nearby, due to asbestos-removal works at the Abbey.