GCN is Ireland’s free national LGBTQ+ media and paper of record. NXF are the publishers of GCN, and we provide support and oversight to the GCN team to ensure that GCN can continue to be a valuable resource for the LGBTQ+ community throughout Ireland.

GCN’s mission is to inform, educate, connect, entertain, platform and advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, driving positive change to foster a more equitable and inclusive society.

By documenting our community’s lives, struggles and triumphs, we ensure visibility that informs policymaking and helps create a more equal society. GCN’s work is grounded in a deep understanding of the needs and challenges of the Irish LGBTQ+ community and has continually evolved to address these needs and confront the prevailing issues of the times.

The publication acts as a hub for other LGBTQ+ community organisations & support groups across Ireland, giving them a platform to highlight their work and to inform the community of events, initiatives and services available. GCN also focuses on celebrating LGBTQ+ culture and spotlighting emerging creatives and talent within the community.

GCN boasts a vibrant presence through its magazine available in print and online, its news, entertainment and lifestyle website, digital initiatives, campaigns, live events, social media channels, and online shop.

On February 10th 1988, an eight-page tabloid newspaper called Gay Community News (GCN) hit the streets for the very first time. It was published from the remains of the badly damaged Hirschfeld Centre. Tonie Walsh developed GCN with the general secretary of the NGF, Catherine Glendon. Glendon tragically died from a stroke on August 5th 1987, at the prime of her career. Her loss was a huge blow, delaying the launch of the paper by several months.

GCN, Issue One, was designed by Niall Sweeney, who went on to become one of Ireland’s leading graphic designers and one of the founders of the Alternative Miss Ireland (AMI). The first issue flagged a story about three gay women abseiling into the House of Lords to protest against Section 28 in the UK, a feature about cross dressing and an item on criminal law written by barrister Jim Treanor. The only professional journalist involved in Issue One was Walt Kilroy, who went on to become an RTÉ news reporter.

– Tonie Walsh, Founding Editor

In July 2003, GCN changed from a newsprint freesheet into a high-quality, full-colour magazine. The decision to do this was based on the need for GCN to compete in the commercial market and attract advertising in order to survive. At that time, GCN was operating at a loss.In the years following the re-launch of GCN, the magazine made record advertising revenue, branching out from only LGBT advertising into the mainstream.

In 2022, GCN pledged to digitise its entire print catalogue, comprising over 300 issues. For the first time ever, this ambitious project will see the pages of Ireland’s longest-running free LGBTQ+ press preserved and rendered in digital format, making them accessible and freely available to readers anywhere in the world.

The GCN Archive aims to digitally preserve and capture the pages of Ireland’s national LGBTQ+ press, forming a rich and invaluable resource to explore our community’s history.