being gay was finally legalised in Ireland. It’s hard to believe this happened as late as 1993 but it did. But there was still a long way to go: a 2007 survey found that Ireland was the third most homophobic country in the western world. Northern Ireland was the second. In other social shifts, the magazine Playboy was finally allowed on sale in Ireland (progress!) and a referendum vote allowed divorce, finally, though it wouldn’t become law until 1997. Non-Irish people never believe me when I say this, but it’s true: you couldn’t get divorced in Ireland until 1997.
