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ALL ABOUT Panti

Panti is Ireland's foremost "gender discombobulist" and "accidental activist.”  She began performing while an art student in the late 80’s before moving to Tokyo and becoming a fixture on the Tokyo club scene.

Returning to Dublin in 1995 she ran some of Dublin's seminal club nights, hosted the legendary Alternative Miss Ireland for 18 years, and performed all over the world. 

Panti has written and performed five critically acclaimed, hit theatre shows: In These Shoes,  All Dolled Up, A Woman in Progress, High Heels In Low Places ,and If These Wigs Could Talk, which have played to stellar reviews and packed houses across Ireland, the UK, Europe, Australia, and the US.

She also starred in the spectacular and acclaimed show Riot which toured across Europe, Australia and North America. 

In October 2014 she published her bestselling memoir Woman In The Making.

In January 2014 Panti's creator Rory O'Neill sparked a national furore when he appeared on RTE television and discussed homophobia in Ireland. The ensuing scandal became known as “Pantigate".

In Feb 2014 Panti took to the stage of the National Theatre to defend herself. Her ten minute oration, which became known as The Noble Call, has been compared to some of the great speeches in the English language and a video of the speech went viral online, was broadcast on TV and radio around the world, and became an international sensation. It was also put to music by pop royalty, Pet Shop Boys. In 2015 year she expanded on some of the themes of that speech in a TED talk which also attracted a lot of attention.

Panti became an iconic figure for equality in Ireland, and in 2015 she played a major role in the successful referendum campaign for Marriage Equality in Ireland.

In October 2015 a critically acclaimed documentary The Queen Of Ireland about Rory and Panti broke box office records in Ireland and picked up awards at festivals around the world.

She has been the recipient of many awards for both her work as an entertainer and as an activist, including a 'Person Of The Year Award’ and an Honorary Doctorate from the prestigious Trinity College Dublin.

She also hosted Pantisocracy, a popular radio chat show focused on science and the arts, on the Irish National Broadcaster RTE, and continues to appear regularly on TV and in movies, and was even a contestant on Dancing With The Stars last year.

She is much in demand at home and abroad as a speaker and activist, and has travelled extensively around the world as an ambassador for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Irish Aid. 

Panti is also the landlady of her popular Dublin bars, Pantibar and Pennylane which opened in 2007 and 2019 respectively.