Honeymoon over as gay couple seek divorce

Two years after gay rights campaigners celebrated the landmark law that legalised same-sex partnerships, the honeymoon is over — at least for one couple who have become the first to seek a divorce.

More than 1,000 gay couples have had their relationships formalised under the groundbreaking civil partnership law introduced in Jan 2011 but now, according to the Courts Service, one Dublin-based pair have called time on their union and applied to have it dissolved.

Under the dissolution requirements, a couple must be living apart for two years before they can apply to formally end their partnership, so this is the earliest the couple could have sought to officially part.