Page three of issue 85, June 1996, of GCN (Gay Community News) contained an article titled ‘Donegal Line’. It reported on an ad that had been picked up from the Donegal Democrat in which the Derry-based gay helpline, Foyle Friend, had put a call out for volunteers to establish a Donegal-based helpline. In September of the following year, issue 99 carried another article with the headline ‘Helpline Call for Donegal’, which announced that Foyle Friend would host a telephone conference that October where people interested in setting up a Donegal helpline and possible drop-in centre could call the discuss supports. It also informed readers that a number of people had already expressed an interest.
By November 1997, issue 101 reported ‘No-go for Donegal Line’. Due to the low number of volunteers who called the conference, it would not be possible to establish a helpline immediately, but that further attempts would continue with those who had shown a willingness.
You can read the full issues on the GCN Archive website here.
GCN (Gay Community News), Issue 85, June 1996, page 3 (Courtesy of the GCN Archive)
GCN (Gay Community News), Issue 99, September 1997, page 4 (Courtesy of the GCN Archive)
GCN (Gay Community News), Issue 101, November 1997, page 5 (Courtesy of the GCN Archive)
