Bernárd Lynch, the former priest and well-known activist for the gay community and people with HIV and Aids, says he is looking forward to one day driving sheep over London Bridge, an ancient right that has been bestowed upon him after he was made a Freeman of the City of London.
Mr Lynch was conferred with the honour at a ceremony in the city’s financial district on Friday. Senior officials from the lord mayor’s office attended the event, as well as Deirdre Fraser, wife of Martin Fraser, the State’s ambassador to Britain.
Clare native Mr Lynch, who famously advocated for Aids sufferers in New York in the 1980s before coming to London about 30 years ago, said he was accepting the honour on behalf of “all members of the diaspora in London and especially any who have ever felt alienated” in the city.
“It is about them as much as me,” he said, speaking on Friday as he prepared for the ceremony. “The nurses, teachers, writers, carpenters and plumbers who came over from Ireland – they were the lifeblood of this city.”
Mr Lynch (77) grew up in Ennis, and his father was a farmer outside the town.
“I will now have permission to drive sheep over London Bridge, and I fully intend to take up that right, so maybe you could say I am going back to my farming roots a bit. I will actually get an invite to go to London Bridge and do that.”
Mr Lynch said he came to London 30 years ago for a three-year contract with London Lighthouse, a care centre for people with HIV and Aids, and never left.
“Aids now is not what it was – my work now is very different. But we are still seeing people diagnosed and there is still a stigma attached to it,” he said.
Mr Lynch is a member of the Community Advisory Group that works with the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, on the city’s St Patrick’s Day Parade. He was the first person to lead a group of gay people taking part in the London parade.
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