Since 1974 The Switchboard has been providing support and resources to the lgbtq+ community and to their families and friends. It was initially conceived as a telephone listening and information service for LGBTQ people by a group of gay rights activists, including Senator David Norris. Their first public meeting was held at Trinity College Dublin in 1973. The original volunteers received training from The Samaritans and Senator Norris recalls “ We were looking for people with a good voice, reassuring voice. People had to have the capacity to listen and to engage.. not to be showering people with advice, but just to listen.” The service officially began in 1974 at 48 Parnell Square in Dublin, home of the gay rights movement at the time as Tel-A-Friend.

By 1979 Tel-A-Friend had moved to the Hirschfield Centre in Temple Bar and would remain there for the next decade. One of the dedicated volunteers at the time remarks “…The Samaritans reported that of the 180 calls it received from homosexuals in 1978, 20% were suicidal…” (Patrick McDonagh).

LGBTQ people were more likely to call The Samaritans in the early years and it was quite a struggle for the service to find its’ audience. Most publications did not want to advertise anything related to the LGBTQ community as this was still a time same-sex sexual activity between men was illegal. Decriminalisation did not take place until 1993.

The service did survive however and found an increased audience and relevance during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s, despite funding consistently being refused.

1986 - 1987 was Tel-A-Friend’s busiest time with over 4,500 calls being received within a 12-month period, but on November 5th 1987 a fire which destroyed The Hirschfield centre left Tel-A-Friend without a home.

In 1989 Tel-A-Friend renamed itself Gay Switchboard Dublin.

The service continued over the following years with many volunteers coming and going. After spending a long time housed in Carmicheal House in Dublin, in 2011 Gay Switchboard Dublin to Outhouse on Capel Street, the recently opened LGBTQ+ resource centre.

In 2014 the service had 51 volunteers and took 2,900 calls. It was also the 40th anniversary of the service and the service changed its name to Gay Switchboard Ireland to reflect the fact that it had long been taking calls from all parts of the country. The 40th anniversary was celebrated with a reception by The President of Ireland Micheal D Higgins. The President thanked the volunteers who attended for the huge amount of work they had done in the community over the years.

In 2021, after a particularly rough year for many charitable organisations in 2020, Gay Switchboard Ireland again rebranded itself as The Switchboard - LGBTQIA Support & Resources, as it increased its outreach into areas of the community sometimes overlooked by offering new dedicated support lines. The helpline continues to grow as it approaches its 50th anniversary in 2024.