The Next NRC Disco in the Brass Monkey in Newry on the 4th of February marks Passion’s Fifth Birthday. Quite an achievement in a small city such as ours and credit must go to the friendly management and staff at the Brass Monkey for allowing us to use their excellent venue as well as all the hard workers within the NRC who month in month out set up and run the night on a voluntary basis.

To mark the milestone Passion will be held a week later on Saturday the 4th of February so there will be no 28th of January Disco.

Many people are still amazed when they realize that such a large crowd of gay people exist in their area. Mind you if all of Newry’s gay population attended the event we would probably need to hire The Relic! It’s sad that so many local LGB and T people still feel that they couldn’t go, out of fear of who might see them because they are still in the closet. Thankfully this is changing but just not quickly enough. Everyone should have the right to be themselves!

Being involved with the running of the disco, while hard work and stressful at times, the rewards of seeing so many people from all areas come together for a great nights craic really make it worthwhile. It’s refreshing to watch so many new people each month arriving on their own, unsure of what to expect and returning regularly afterwards having got to know a good few people.

While we as organizers do try and chat to newcomers sitting on their own, to the credit of Newry’s gay population it really is them that make new people feel comfortable and that’s certainly something you’ll not find in other nightclubs or even in large gay clubs such as the Kremlin or the George in Belfast and Dublin.

Passion is so much more than a disco. It’s where you can be yourself in cosy friendly surroundings and a night where people of all ages can mix comfortably. Getting to know so many young Newry folk who have been going there from the start as teens and now heading for their mid Twenties has been a privilege and it really does feels like one big family.

It’s certainly an ideal place to go to make new friends and knowing how lonely and isolated some gay people can find life, it’s the perfect tonic.

See you all on the Fourth!