Support grows for poll on gay marriage

A referendum on gay marriage is looking likely, with a number of TDs from the Government and the Opposition throwing their weight behind proposals to put it to a public vote.

The Constitutional Convention will vote tomorrow on whether the question should be put to the people.

The recommendation by the convention will be debated in the Oireachtas before the Government sets out its response within four months — including whether or not it intends to hold a referendum.

The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network said thousands of families across Ireland await the outcome of the debate which begins in Malahide, Dublin, today.

“The delegates have the opportunity to advance the remarkable journey towards full constitutional equality for lesbian and gay people in Ireland.” said GLEN director Brian Sheehan.

“The move to civil marriage now is not a massive leap; it is an incremental step building on powerful civil partnership legislation and on the enthusiastic welcome by Irish people for the more than 1,000 civil partnerships that have already taken place in Ireland.”

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties said the convention offers a “golden opportunity to address one of the last bastions of legal discrimination in Ireland”.

Director Mark Kelly said: “Only fully civil marriage constitutes full equality, and we are confident that the convention will send a decisive message to the Government that this pernicious form of discrimination must be brought to an end.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, has so far refused to say whether or not he supports gay marriage.

Frances Fitzgerald, the children’s minister, became the most senior Fine Gael politician to openly support gay marriage ahead of this weekend’s debate, saying: “There’s been such dreadful discrimination in this country and we’ve destroyed so many lives and I don’t want to see discrimination continue.

“I would certainly favour putting it to the people. I think it’s a great compliment to marriage that gay couples would want to be married. I see it as stabilising rather than threatening.”

Party colleagues who are also members of the convention, including Mary Mitchell-O’Connor, Jerry Buttimer, and Derek Keating also intend to support a referendum.

The Labour and Fianna Fáil representatives on the convention have also said they will support the proposal to hold a referendum.

Sinn Féin deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald said last night her party “believes in the equality of all citizens and strongly supports the rights of all citizens irrespective of their sexual orientation to full legal marriage”.