David Monaghan

Irish Independent • 15th April 2025

‘My OCD symptoms started when I was eleven. I was washing my hands so excessively I left droplets of blood wherever I went’

Having lived with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder since the age of 11, David Monaghan sought to shatter stereotypes and educate the general public about the disorder by writing a play ‘It started when I was young, about seven. I washed my hands again and again until the skin on my knuckles cracked and bled.”

Gay Star News • 14th February 2025

The Science-Fiction Thriller That Delves Into The Idea Of Curing Mental Illness With The Assistance Of AI

I Wouldn’t Mind Control is a multimedia theatre piece, a psychological science-fiction thriller about delving into the mind and curing mental illness with the assistance of AI.

Dublin Inquirer • 31st May 2023

Under a tent in Merrion Square, queer resilience

On a recent Monday, contributors to the new collection Glórtha Aiteacha \ Queer Voices shared readings to celebrate pathways, often through struggle, to joy and community.

HeadStuff • 20th January 2022

Film Review Belfast | Kenneth Branagh’s love letter to the city of his youth is steeped in mawkish memory

Film Review Belfast | Kenneth Branagh’s love letter to the city of his youth is steeped in mawkish memory

Dublin Inquirer • 29th September 2021

Seeing Non-Fiction as Left-Behind, the Journal “Tolka” Seeks to Elevate It

Why is there generally, though, a greater focus on fiction over non-fiction? “I think a lot of it is about risk and I’d say the publishing industry, despite being creative, is actually very conservative – in all meanings of the term – and risk-averse,” Tomaselli says.

HeadStuff • 17th November 2020

TV Review | The Crown’s Fourth Season Turns on its Duty Bound Queen

The Crown season four opens with a bang. Quite literally. For three seasons, creator and lead writer Peter Morgan had been reticent about the Troubles in Northern Ireland. While incidents like Aberfan disaster and the UK miners’ strike of 1972 were given the time they deserved, the escalating conflict across the Irish Sea never got a look in. The presence of Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance), however, made tackling the subject an inevitability.

GCN • 13th October 2020

Irish pop star Jack Rua opens up about new music and intimacy in isolation

With the world on stand-still, many are feeling lonely, isolated, and frustrated. Jack Rua has channelled this energy into his music with new song, ‘Isolation.’

GCN • 15th April 2020

“I had a conversation with a f**king crow”: LGBT+ performers on how the lockdown has impacted them

“I had a conversation with a fucking crow, man.” Wallis Bird is one of the LGBT+ performers and artists telling me about the impact the Covid-19 lockdown has had on their life.

GCN • 23rd March 2020

WATCH: Irish drag royalty Panti Bliss and Bunny O’Hare lip sync to Édith Piaf

With Ireland’s LGBT+ community practising self-isolation, you might be needing a drag fix to get you through the day. Why not enjoy drag royalty Panti Bliss and Bunny O’Hare performing a hilarious lip-sync to an Édith Piaf classic?

GCN • 8th January 2020

Remembering The Dragon - one of Dublin's most iconic queer venues

Located on 64 South Great George’s Street, The Dragon was one of two dedicated queer nightclubs in Dublin until its closure in 2015. It was youth-focused and, at times, chaotic – mainly due to the club’s unusual layout.

GCN • 30th December 2019

This iconic piece of pop art was inspired by a gay romance

Robert Indiana’s ‘LOVE’ is regarded as one of the most famous pieces of pop art in history. Even if you are not familiar with the artist, you will certainly be familiar with the piece itself. Although an instantly recognisable piece of pop art, what many don’t know is that it was inspired by Indiana’s love for another man.

GCN • 18th September 2019

Derry Girls star says RuPaul's Drag Race UK will be an 'eff you' to bigots

Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan has claimed that RuPaul’s Drag Race UK will take aim at the nation’s bigots.

GCN • 3rd September 2019

Special guests and speakers announced for The North Is Next at Dublin Fringe

The guests and speakers for The North Is Next, a special zine launch and event created in collaboration between GCN, Dublin Fringe and Outburst Arts, have been announced.

GCN • 2nd August 2019

These are the rumoured queens of RuPaul's Drag Race season 12

Following the announcement that Drag Race season 12 had officially begun casting calls, rumours have spread about who will be in the new cast.

GCN • 12th July 2019

New Pride Run video game lets you dance off against Trump and Putin

The upcoming Pride Run video game from developers IV Productions, allows you to dance off and show your true colours at Pride events across the globe, including San Francisco, Berlin, Madrid, Istanbul, Moscow, and more. (Unfortunately, a bonus level set in Dublin is not currently in the works.)

GCN • 21st May 2019

Irish queer festival 'Love Sensation' announces new additions to line-up

Love Sensation, a brand new queer festival, takes place on August 17 and 18, 2019, at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham, Dublin. It is the brainchild of Mother founder and club night veteran Cormac Cashman, who today announced new additions to the eclectic line-up.

GCN • 20th May 2019

Furtastic news: Dublin Bear Pride is back!

On June 28 and 29, 2019, Dublin’s hairiest event of the year returns: Dublin Bear Pride will kick-off on Friday 28 in the Adelphi at 9pm with Fur – a club night. This will feature a set by DJ El Styra.

HeadStuff • 5th April 2019

Film Review | The DCEU Gets Fun With the Charming Heartfelt Shazam!

Shazam! strips back the appeal of superhero adventures to its essentials – childhood wish fulfilment – and gives it a glossy millennial sheen.

Dublin Inquirer • 16th January 2019

A Woman Remembers Her Rathgar Bookshop, Closed a Year Now

Liz Meldon had been nervous about coming back, she says. We are leaving the road in Rathgar where her bookshop used to be. She had spent more than a decade of her life working here, but she hadn’t come back for quite a while. “I couldn’t put a finger on exactly why,” she says. “It’s always the people you miss the most, about anything. I mean think about it.” She takes one last look in the window to wave goodbye to old friends, customers, and pulls away. Through the windshield is a wet winter morning.

Dublin Inquirer • 26th September 2018

Working-Class Heroines, Reviewed

The stories told by working-class women in inner-city Dublin that are included in Kevin C. Kearns’ book Working-Class Heroines have acquired a new resonance in contemporary Ireland. It might even be fair to say that this book resonates more strongly today than it did when it was first published in 2004.