Same-sex couples - Old order smothers discussion

The intolerance displayed towards Justice Minister Michael McDowell at the conference on the legal status of cohabiting and same sex couples organised by the Equality Authority and the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network was more pathetic than serious.

What it did illustrate, however, is that there are people who not alone resent societal change, but want to smother any discussion about it.

It is the ostrich syndrome, believing that a blind refusal to accept that things may have to change is a protection against it. It is not, and never has been.