Mary McAleese has taken the wrong stance on same-sex marriage

We would like to challenge ex-President Mary McAleese (Irish Examiner, April 14 ) on her view that “the country must vote in favour of the May 22 vote if it wants to finally live up to its constitutional promise to cherish all children equally”.

I am a great admirer of Mary for her courage in standing up for her convictions. I canvassed for Mary McAleese to be elected and then she launched the book I co-edited — Adventures in Reconciliation — in the Aras.

But she is wrong on this issue and is sadly taking a public stance against the Christian position on marriage.

She must know full well that Catholic, Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Methodist churches have all recently reconfirmed their church’s position that marriage is a divinely ordained ordinance that is exclusively between a man and a woman.

As a prominent barrister and former law professor she must surely be aware that the European Court of Human Rights found that the European Convention on Human Rights “secures the fundamental right of a man and a woman to marry and found a family” and does not require countries to recognise same sex marriage.

Does our former President not realise that if there is a majority yes vote that it will make it impossible to protect a child’s right to a mother and father in the case of adoption, surrogacy and donor assisted human reproduction?

We hope she hasn’t bought the Government’s lie that this referendum has nothing to do with children and their rights. The Government is wrong on this.

How can the Government be trusted on this issue? Just five years ago Minister for Health Leo Varadkar, speaking on the Civil Partnership Bill in January 2010, affirmed: “Every child has the right to a mother and father and, as much as is possible, the State should vindicate that right”.

Paddy Monaghan

On behalf of the Steering Group

An Evangelical Response to the Same Sex Referendum

PO Box 9234

Dun Laoghaire

Co Dublin