Unequal partners

CONTRARY to Barry Walsh’s claim (Letters, May 10), my call for a referendum on the Civil Partnership Bill is nothing to do with a desire to “turn Ireland back into a church-dominated theocracy”.

I simply do not accept the government parties, based on their election manifestos, have a mandate to place financial responsibilities on one half of a cohabiting couple if the relationship ends.

An “opt-in” system, where an unmarried couple can sign a cohabiting agreement if they feel it is necessary, is the model that has generally been adopted in other European countries, as opposed to the impractical “opt-out” system proposed in the legislation.