Almost 900 civil partnerships recorded since April 2011

New figures released today says that 862 civil partnerships have taken place in Ireland since April 2011 when they became legal.

Of that, 582 were male couples and 334 were female couples.

The figures released by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network say most were aged between 41 and 50.

However, 14 people were aged over 70 and 11 were under 20 years of age.

GLEN says based on the success of civil partnerships, it believes Ireland is evolving towards support for civil marriages as the next step for gay and lesbian couples.