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Dublin Live
Dublin Live
Entertainment
Brian Dillon

Film about Fairview Park murder of Declan Flynn is in the works

A film about the shocking 1982 murder of Declan Flynn is in the works.

Declan was the victim of a homophobic attack in Dublin's Fairview Park in the early hours of September 10, 1982.

A gang of five teenagers, that included a 14-year-old boy, were responsible for the killing.

The same group had carried out a series of homophobic beatings during the summer of that year.

Declan's murder is often regarded as a catalyst for the Irish gay rights movement.

Fairview Park, a film about Declan, has been in development for two years and filmmakers are currently crowdfunding for the project, with backing from Dublin Pride.

Joe Tapp is the lead producer of the film, and he spoke to Dublin Live about the project and what inspired the team to take it on.

He said: "Our writer/director Ellie Hodgetts is a queer woman. She became interested in the story of Declan and wrote this really beautiful script about him.

"It was really poignant in describing not just Declan's story but what thousands of queer people were going through at that time."

He added: "Declan is the forefront of the film but in the background, there are all of these complex things going on. Declan wasn't openly gay.

"The family didn't know of his sexuality and then woke up to him being a sort of figure head for the gay rights movement at the time. It didn't get the coverage it deserved and we want to help set that right. It was really muddled at the time. A lot of people haven't heard this story before."

Mr Justice Sean Gannon sentenced the youths to between one and five years on guilty pleas to manslaughter in March 1983.

The sentences were suspended.

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