Murders of two gay men in Sligo

JupiterKid

The shocking and gruesome murders of two gay men in Sligo Town over the past couple of days is a kick in the teeth for the LGBT community, the people of Sligo and anyone who believes in a harmonious and just society in general.

Such senseless and wanton savagery inflicted on two harmless men and it looks like a hookup or dating app was the common denominator - Gardai have arrested a suspect in his 20s.

I really thought Ireland had long since moved on from the dark days of the 1980s when gay men like Declan Flynn and Charles Self were murdered in homophobic hate crimes and I know that tremendous social progress for the better has been made in the past 30 years - but I also feel that since the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum, successive govts since then have taken their eye off the ball on LGBT rights and a sense of complacency had set in.

These murders have shaken me and many others - gay and straight. I dearly hope that the brutal murders of these two men are not in vain and that stalled hate crime legislation is finally enacted.

Riesen_Meal

It is absolutely abhorrent what has happened them men, you would have to wonder what is going through a chap in his twenties head to do such evil thing's?

Surely he has family members, friends and associates who are gay...?

Not forgetting the other homophobic attack that's happened in Dublin over the weekend either, that poor chap attacked outside Gayspar...

It's 2022, I thought society had near moved past this crap...

Brucie Bonus

Terrible for all involved. Hopefully it being a sparsely populated area they'll solve it quickly.

silverharp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058241567/murders-of-two-gay-men-in-sligo

why do you assume the suspect is Irish?

enricoh

Thankfully with CCTV and mobile phones it's a lot easier to catch scumbags nowadays. In the 70s a big slice of luck was required. Rip to the 2 men.

JupiterKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922637#Comment_118922637

Please show me in my first post where I assumed the suspect was Irish? 🤔 All I posted about the suspect was that he is in his 20s.

garlic bread

Shocking to see this headline on the news. Rip to the two deceased men. You would have to wonder at the level of hate someone would have to do something like this.

Wibbs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922620#Comment_118922620

Thankfully society has to a great extent, but there are still pockets of homophobes out there. Large enough pockets too in my experience. We were buoyed up by the passing of the SSM referendum, but it was easy to forget that nearly 40% of the electorate voted no. Now the vast majority are just windbags all bluster, or gutless **** like the guy who shouted at Leo Varadkar the other day, but among them are real pricks like this guy.

Jarhead_Tendler

It is awful indeed reminded me of Colin Ireland in England many years ago. Hopefully the killer is caught and faces the harshest punishment available

Rikand

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058241567/murders-of-two-gay-men-in-sligo

I think its a stretch to blame a perceived stalling government over what are clearly the actions of a total **** psychopathic nutjob.

No matter what kind of legislation is in, if that person wanted to kill people, they were going to.

[Deleted User]

Spare a thought also for the poor man in Sligo who was stabbed in the eye. It’s highly likely it was the same psycho who assaulted him too.

[Deleted User]

Terrible crimes no doubt, RIP.

Not sure what bringing in hate crime legislation would do? These were two murders. Murder is murder. Mandatory life sentence if convicted. Hate crime legislation wouldn't change that.

The_Kew_Tour

Is it the same suspect for both?

[Deleted User]

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922718#Comment_118922718

It appears to be.

Riesen_Meal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922701#Comment_118922701

I was thinking about that but didn't want to speculate, has that been confirmed at all?

Mwengwe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922637#Comment_118922637

here we go

(they didn't)

The_Kew_Tour

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922742#Comment_118922742

I hope whoever did it gets its day in hell.

Andrea B.

Why is it being assumed to being a homophobic attack?

Chinese whospers

Hopefully they have the guy, seems like the type that was going to keep going until caught.

cgcsb

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922763#Comment_118922763

Ah I miss read one of the earlier stories.

Either way the gardai are still appealing for information and they've been questioning that suspect some time now with no charge.

Mwengwe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922769#Comment_118922769

You'd know if you bothered to read any of the statements released

titan18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922699#Comment_118922699

Tbf actually having a government and justice system harsh on crime would have had a good chance on preventing it. I doubt he just woke up and decided to murder people, he probably has priors (and as they're linking an attack last week to the same suspect, he did).

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922791#Comment_118922791

I have. Is it known that the killer was not gay? Is it homophobic if the killer is gay? I haven't seen any such info.

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922769#Comment_118922769

Gardai are investigating a ‘hate’ element and if both men met their attacker on dating apps.

I mean put two and two together for Christ’s sake.

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922746#Comment_118922746

The OP seemed to imply the perpetrator was Irish in the way the post was worded. Another poster seemed to think it ridiculous to assume it could be within the 15% non Irish population. It would certainly seem that a higher than 15% proportion of murders making the headlines turn out to be committed by the15%. Irish culture, tolerance and indeed acceptance of the LGBT community has come very far, but some cultures from some communities living here may not have that same acceptance. I would not assume the nationality of the perpetrator, but I would not be surprised if the person was not Irish.

Faugheen

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922841#Comment_118922841

Actually, gay men are absolutely capable of killing gay men for the reason they are gay.

Andrea B.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922857#Comment_118922857

And with that, you would be surprised if the person was Irish?

FoxyVixen

Lads seriously. Two families just lost their loved ones in an horrific and sudden manner.

Keep the rumours to the town so that the families don't have to see it here right now. There's a reason the media are keeping a tight lid on it right now.

JP Liz V1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922714#Comment_118922714

Life really should mean Life not just 25 years

...Ghost...

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922887#Comment_118922887

Truth be told, I wouldn't be surprised if the person was half Irish, half Slovak, trans-woman but identifies as a non-binary Elf on the weekend. I wouldn't care either. A murderer is a murderer no matter the makeup of the person. I just wouldn't be assuming the nationality or sex unless there was good reason to.

JupiterKid

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118922943#Comment_118922943

Yes, I well remember the 1998 case of a gay American expat writer who was brutally assaulted in Sligo - where he was living at the time - by two local youths and left permanently paralysed for life.