Coughlan under fire over marriage comments

The Minister for Family Affairs, Mary Coughlan, came under attack yesterday for her apparent acceptance that marriage is no longer the norm in society.

Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton said Ms Coughlan had claimed in a newspaper interview that society should no longer encourage marriage as the norm.

Mr Bruton said that Ms Coughlan was wrong in this belief and “there are very good reasons why the State should favour marriage”.