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Kieran Rose, Chris Robson, Phil Moore and Suzy Byrne celebrate the decriminalisation GLEN

20 years ago homosexuality was decriminalised, but not everyone was happy...

Paul McGrath of Fine Gael at the time spoke against the bill and said he was concerned what impact it would have on society as a whole.

TWENTY YEARS AGO today, Ireland passed legislation which officially decriminalised homosexuality.

While most in the Dáil welcomed the Bill, proposed by the then Minister for Justice, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn on behalf of the Fianna Fáil/Labour coalition government, some were deeply unhappy about it.

Quoted in Cathy Herbert’s radio package for RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Paul McGrath also of Fine Gael at the time spoke against the bill and said he was concerned what impact it would have on society as a whole:

Are we now to see exhibitions in public by homosexuals? Holding hands, kissing, cuddling etc. Is homosexual behavior to be put on a par with heterosexual behaviour? And I think we should reflect that the majority of the people in this country would not be in favour of such a move.

Eamon Gilmore congratulated Minister Geoghegan-Quinn on decriminalising the bill and acknowledged that she faced much opposition from what he called “intolerant groups”.

She has stood up to the threats of her own backbenchers, including indeed a colleague in her own constituency who has shown no shame in exploiting any difficulties which the Bill may have caused for her.

Although Gay Mitchell of Fine Gael said it was time to reform the law on homosexuality, he said he’s party would be introducing an amendment to change the proposed age of consent to protect young “vulnerable people”:

It is the view of my party that 18 years is the appropriate age that should apply in this case. The party is conscious that teenage years are tender years and it is anxious to strike the correct balance between removing unnecessary criminal taboos and protecting vulnerable people under the law.

Five deputies spoke against the bill on that night, one of them was Noel Ahern of Fianna Fáil, who said that the State had a responsibility to safeguard the sexual development of our children and in a way, compared homosexuality to abortion:

I feel that all this liberal, social legislation that’s being pushed through lately it’s all being done to soften us up for what people see as the big event, which is abortion and I’d just like to use this opportunity of giving my message that abortion is a different category and will not run.

There were many representatives that backed the Bill back in 1993, including current represtatives, the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald.

“The concept of male homosexuality as a criminal act has done its share in upholding prejudice and in creating and sustaining a climate in which some of our citizens have been marginalised and ostracised. Individuals and families have suffered greatly,” said Minister Fitzgerald.

“What we are concerned with fundamentally in this Bill is a necessary development of human rights,” Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the then Minister for Justice told a Dáil debate.

While Mervyn Taylor, the former Minister for Equality and Law Reform said the bill was the “right of each individual to participate fully in society”:

What could be more important for us as legislators, than to create a climate and a space in which two people who have chosen each other can express and share their love?

Senator David Norris, who had campaigned for the bill for 16 years, said it made him breathe more freely:

Young people will no longer have to grow up in the shadow of the taint of criminality which has blighted the vulnerable youth of so many of our citizens with terror and shame.

“The passage of the Bill in June 1993 was a watershed in the lives of gay and lesbian people in Ireland,” said Kieran Rose, the head of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network. “No longer were Irish people to be treated as criminals, just because of who they were.”

Related: Today marks the 20th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality>

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108 Comments
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    Mute Fred Jetson
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:19 PM

    Build private residential apartments. Severe shortage in Docklands area. The last thing Sheriff street needs is social housing.

    399
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    Mute JR
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:26 PM

    @Fred Jetson: Exactly, put the workers close to the work.

    261
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    Mute rory conway
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:20 PM

    @Fred Jetson: high rise.

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    Mute Centerro
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    Oct 11th 2017, 7:42 PM

    @Fred Jetson: and preferrably sell to Irish owners…no offence to the Canadians, American, British, Germans etc who seem to be buying up a lot of property developments.

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    Mute JR
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    Oct 12th 2017, 6:43 AM

    @Centerro: Yes, how dare they come and contribute to the economy and society…..

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    Mute Dave barrett
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:24 PM

    Cant afford it . Getting no bonus at xmas because im not in receipt of social welfare payment

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    Mute Brown Boots
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    Oct 11th 2017, 7:08 PM

    @Dave barrett: lies!

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    Mute Sean Conway
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    Oct 11th 2017, 7:57 PM

    @Dave barrett: Picking on the poorest in society makes you feel good?

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    Mute Neil Carmody
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    Oct 14th 2017, 10:28 PM

    @Sean Conway: Dont assume it has feelings sean

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    Mute Richard
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:20 PM

    5.2 acres: Let’s leave 1.7 acres (generous) for grounds, stairwells, lift shafts, wall space, etc – that leaves 3.5 acres, or 14164 square metres. 120sqm (generous in Dublin) per apartment means 118 per floor. 25 floors = nearly 3,000 apartments.

    Why in God’s name are they calling it 400? You’d get 500 decent size apartments on 4 floors!

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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    Oct 11th 2017, 5:50 PM

    @Richard: Might need to get the calculator out when the site is split into blocks of apartments to allow enough light in. Then sufficient roadways to allow access for fire brigades. Then factor in the proximity to the overhead train lines.

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    Mute prop joe
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    Oct 11th 2017, 6:12 PM

    @Richard: 5 acres is small. All apartments need to have parking storage, during closet. No point in building garbage.

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    Mute Oisín O'Connor
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    Oct 11th 2017, 7:06 PM

    @prop joe: these ones should be exempt from parking except low cost bike parking and gocar station

    4
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    Mute D.B
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    Oct 11th 2017, 9:22 PM

    @Richard: wtf are you on about?

    2
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    Mute MyBrokenKnees
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:21 PM

    Bubble go boom!

    68
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    Mute Kal Ipers
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:45 PM

    @MyBrokenKnees: Lack of supply and rising house price is not the same as oversupply and prices rises. No bubble at the moment

    70
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    Mute Richard
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:22 PM

    @Kal Ipers: The population of Dublin has only gone up a couple of percent in the last 15 years – why is there a lack of supply?!

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    Mute Kal Ipers
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:58 PM

    @Richard: Because the age profile of the population changed. A 10 year old doesn’t need a property but a 25 year old does. I also don’t believe it has gone up by only 2%. It will be 5 years before we meet current demands but won’t meet the demand that will exist in 5 years

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    Mute Antoin O Lachtnain
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:59 PM

    @Richard: the population has grown by 25 percent over the last 15 years. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Dublin_Area

    23
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    Mute Kal Ipers
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    Oct 11th 2017, 5:07 PM

    @Antoin O Lachtnain: Just about to point that out too

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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    Oct 11th 2017, 5:46 PM

    @Richard: because the banks and NAMA put developers into receivership about 8-9 years ago. No developer no supply simple as.

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    Mute Sean
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    Oct 11th 2017, 8:35 PM

    @Antoin O Lachtnain: Greater Dublin includes Meath, Kildare and Wicklow from the map shown. Those counties aren’t in Dublin which is what the original poster referred to.

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    Mute Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:19 PM

    Here we go again.

    48
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    Mute Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:21 PM

    @Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: deja vu

    21
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    Mute Darren Bates
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:42 PM

    @Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: would you rather we wouldn’t build? This plot needs big, executive style apartments

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    Mute Fabio Dillon
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:56 PM

    @Dáithí Ó Raghallaigh: silly comment

    20
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    Mute ginger tomatoes i9
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:10 PM

    Why not put out a tender offer to build for set price, but government retains ownership and sells or rents directly to families/workers.

    Makes more sense than selling for buttons to a developer whole make a mint once completes the build

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    Mute P.J. Nolan
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:38 PM

    @ginger tomatoes i9:
    Correct me if I’m wrong but the state doesn’t own this site so they would have to buy it first.

    That said your idea about state owned building isn’t a bad idea but not in the city centre where the land is so expensive.

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    Mute phil
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    Oct 11th 2017, 6:46 PM

    “Makes more sense than selling for buttons to a developer whole make a mint once completes the build”

    Any chance of a job with wherever you are working. If you consider over 5 million an acre buttons.

    In this case I hope whoever buys and develops the land makes an absolute killing. Takes some balls to put that amount of money up front given what happened to housing demand in 08

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    Mute Dave
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:39 PM

    East road not East street, no?

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    Mute Maciek Sz
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:48 PM

    @Dave: yeah, there is no East street in docklands

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    Mute OnTheOutside
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    Oct 11th 2017, 3:22 PM

    Seems like a bargain if you ask me

    24
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    Mute alphanautica
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:14 PM

    How about a casino and world park, with exotic foods from every country?

    21
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    Mute Kieran Monaghan
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    Oct 11th 2017, 8:32 PM

    @alphanautica: and a monorail

    10
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    Mute Colin Morris
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:21 PM

    Who currently owns it?

    It needs to be subject to a CPO by Dublin City Council.

    Then high rise apartment blocks (thirty floors minimum each) need to be built on this and these can be sold as affordable housing to people working in the IFSC.

    These apartments must not be abandoned to the free market because of the cancerous opportunism of that failed system.

    The housing emergency is too serious to trust the market here.,

    24
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    Mute Neal Ireland Hello.
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:54 PM

    @Colin Morris: That sounds ghastly. Would you be prepared to live in it? I wouldn’t.

    6
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    Mute Colin Morris
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    Oct 11th 2017, 5:00 PM

    @Neal Ireland Hello.: Yes.

    Most of these apartments would be 1 and 2 bed places – ideal for the people working in the Dockalnds areas. Most would be childless so facilities for children are unneeded.

    3000 flats in high rises would sort out the housing emergency in Dublin.

    That is why the market cannot be trusted with this – they don’t care about the national emergency.

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    Mute Gareth Cooney
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    Oct 11th 2017, 5:53 PM

    @Colin Morris: the housing problem was caused by Nama so it can be sorted by Nama but not at the expense of the free market.

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    Mute Andrew Loughlin
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    Oct 11th 2017, 6:19 PM

    @Colin Morris: having lived in the area for 7 years 2009-2016 and raised my first child to the age of 2 before moving. I can tell you there are plenty of families there in need of the facilities you claim are not needed.

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    Mute phil
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    Oct 11th 2017, 6:50 PM

    @Colin Morris: No, let the sites be developed and sold as normal. People working in some of the bigger companies based in the Docklands can well afford to pay a good price for their apartments.

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    Mute Colin Morris
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    Oct 12th 2017, 12:39 AM

    @phil: Yes they can afford a good price. The free market will over charge though.

    The free market is a dismal failure

    1
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    Mute Colin Morris
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    Oct 12th 2017, 12:42 AM

    @Andrew Loughlin:

    Good for you.

    Facilities for children are not hugely important in areas where only a minority of people have them though, I’m sure you’ll agree.

    Parents get too many benefits at the expense of childless people already.

    2
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    Mute Colin Morris
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    Oct 12th 2017, 12:43 AM

    @Gareth Cooney:

    NAMA is a result of the free market.

    The free market is a failed model.

    There is a national housing emergency.

    1
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    Mute Gerard Kinsella
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:04 PM

    It fails to mention that this yard backs onto the Irish Rail Freight yard…handy if you like listening to the rumble of freight trains during the middle of the night.

    19
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    Mute Paul Maguire
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:01 PM

    The celtic tiger is sure back. Who is going to watch the watchers, as we see the price of
    price of property in Ireland beginning to spire once more.

    14
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    Mute Gerard Kinsella
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:09 PM

    The article fails to mention that the land backs onto Irish Rails Freight yard where heavy goods trains are shunted day and night..handy if you like the sound of trains rumbling around during the early hours of the night.

    12
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    Mute Fluich Go Craicean
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    Oct 11th 2017, 9:19 PM

    @Gerard Kinsella: decent windows block noise

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    Mute D.B
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    Oct 11th 2017, 9:24 PM

    @Fluich Go Craicean: decent Windows?? Lol

    2
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    Mute Oliver
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    Oct 11th 2017, 8:05 PM

    5 acres?? What about 100s of acres in the docks that is under state ownership that houses ship containers? High rise units here would ease the Dublin housing crisis.

    Why can’t the state start moving Port operations out of large amount of land that is on the city’s doorstep. Could be used to serve ifsc, social housing. Extend the luas from the point and you have public transport sorted.

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    Mute Ken Pepper
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    Oct 11th 2017, 4:51 PM

    a huge LIDl

    19
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    Mute Robbie Masterson
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    Oct 11th 2017, 9:02 PM

    East Road, East Wall , Dublin 3 , the bottom of Johnny Cullen’s Hill

    2
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    Mute Niall Cassidy
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    Oct 11th 2017, 6:31 PM

    East road FFS!

    2
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    Mute William Kelly
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    Oct 11th 2017, 9:44 PM

    Can’t place the site exactly, probably the old L& N site or near too,but it seems to adjoin a quite extensive East Wall residential community, some high rise, some older council type homes, a very long established & integrated community, very Dub. Worked & socialised with them for a generation, I consider myself an envious “expat”, & I hope that lots of them get to live in their own patch.

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    Mute Rab Mac Aonghusa
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    Oct 11th 2017, 5:37 PM

    East Road

    1
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    Mute Stevie Doran
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    Oct 15th 2017, 12:47 AM

    Talking to a financial analyst working in London, next recession is due to hit us in 2020, this will be worth €5mill

    1
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