The Hirschfeld Centre offers a telephone service that will listen and provide information to gay people.
The Hirschfeld Centre in Dublin's Temple Bar has around one thousand members and is home to gay organisations.
Dublin's gay scene has been traditionally centred around city pubs and discos but nine months ago, this centre, The Hirschfeld Centre, was opened as an alternative community centre for gay men and women.
In addition to the social activities the centre provides, it also offers a telephone counselling service called Tel-A-Friend. Martin Barnes describes how the service works. It is used by gay men and women of all age groups who feel that their family and friends do not understand them. Tel-A-Friend allows them to speak freely.
They want to speak to someone they don't know initially.
The service extends beyond a telephone chat, where callers are invited to visit the centre to avail of face-to-face services. If the caller does not want to visit, there is also the option to meet elsewhere. Martin Barnes says most callers feel lonely and that they can not speak to anyone about their sexuality.
This episode of 'Week Out' was broadcast on 15 February 1980. The presenter is Áine O'Connor.
