A petition is calling on the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to revert the Dublin Pride Parade to its original route.

For the past five years, the parade has been diverted away from the main thoroughfares of the capital - instead going down the Quays.

Originally the route was said to be changed due to the Luas Cross-City works, which have now been completed.

The Gay Community News (GCN) magazine is hoping to get 10,000 signatures, and submit the petition to the Taoiseach.

They say: "In August, Pope Francis was allowed to parade down O'Connell Street, despite the cost incurred.

"Every year, the St Patrick's Day Parade takes place on the city's main thoroughfares.

People participate in 2018 Dublin Pride 2018  | Image: Sam Boal/RollingNews.ie

"Yet Dublin Pride, which this year brought 60,000 people to Dublin's city centre, along with the attendant income for businesses in the city, is fully diverted away from the city's main thoroughfares, O'Connell Street and Dame Street.

"We call on the Taoiseach and all the relevant Government departments to ensure funding for Dublin Pride to march down O'Connell Street and Dame Street on the last Saturday in June 2019."

They add: "We further call on the Government to ensure that it be enshrined that the Dublin Pride Parade, which is the second largest major cultural event in the city after the St Patrick's Day Parade, is always allowed march through O'Connell Street and Dame Street on the last Saturday in June, commemorating the liberation of LGBT people at Stonewall on the last Saturday in June 1969."

One signatory writes: "Pride is about visibility and it's much more of a reflection of what modern ireland is all about than the recent papal visit."

Drag queen and rights advocate Panti Bliss has tweeted: "Don't know about anyone else, but I know what parade route I'm marching next year. Even if I'm doing it on my own, I'll be be in the middle of the street where God herself intended me to be on the last Saturday in June".

Don't know about anyone else, but I know what parade route I'm marching next year. Even if I'm doing it on my own, I'll be be in the middle of the street where God herself intended me to be on the last Saturday in June. #GiveBackOurRoute #VisibilityIsTheWholeFeckinPoint #Pride pic.twitter.com/3vj8aTT4Iu

— Dr Panti Bliss (@PantiBliss) September 1, 2018