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THE POST.IE
First gay
weddings take place in Dublin
By John Burke.
sbpost.com from the Web, December 9, 2007
Four gay Irishmen have married in
Dublin this year, despite the lack of legislation permitting such unions here.
The Minister for Justice, Brian Lenihan, said last week that the heads of the
Civil Partnership Bill would be published by the end of March, but the
government had no plans to legislate for civil marriage for same sex couples.
‘‘The advice of successive Attorneys General is that same-sex marriage would not
be constitutional,” said Lenihan.
‘‘In my view, a referendum on this issue at this time would be divisive and
unsuccessful.”
The four gay men who married this year did so in civil ceremonies at the British
Embassy in Ballsbridge. The embassy, which is regarded as British
territory, has been hosting civil partnership ceremonies since August 2006.
At least one of those seeking a civil partnership must be a British citizen.
In order to comply with British law, the ceremony is conducted in a public area
of the embassy, so that anyone who wishes to object to the union would be able
to do so.
The four Irish citizens who married their British partners at the embassy will
be recognised as married couples under British law, but not here.
Two gay rights campaigners, Dr Ann Louise Gilligan and Dr Katherine Zappone, are
pursuing a Supreme Court action after the High Court ruled that their 2003
wedding in Canada was not recognised for tax purposes in Ireland. Miss
Justice Elizabeth Dunne ruled last December that there was no provision for
same-sex marriage in the Constitution.
Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands are the only other European countries that
recognise same-sex marriage. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has
said that civil partnership is ‘‘a step in the right direction’’, but only the
introduction of civil marriage will achieve equality for gay couples.
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