Happily ever after? Life since Ireland's same-sex marriage referendum

It’s been nearly six years since Ireland said ‘yes’ to marriage equality. Irish people in same-sex relationships chat about what’s changed and what remains challenging

James Kavanagh and William Murray say that the 2015 referendum result enabled them to be more open about their relationship. Picture: Moya Nolan

Wonder engulfed the nation after the historic result of the 2015 marriage referendum. We endorsed it by a landslide, becoming the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote. To the world, we had turned from being conservatives to liberals inside a generation. But did the victory close the book on LGBTQI+ rights?

In the four years following the referendum, 3,210 same-sex marriages have been performed in Ireland, making up just over 3.5% of all marriages from 2015 to the end of 2019. While the numbers choosing to wed have been steady since the vote, 664 couples in 2018 and 640 in 2019, it’s not all happily ever after.