Government must resist cardinal’s move to deny a basic civil right

This talk that the institution of marriage would be somehow devalued by making it available to gay people is ridiculous. Surely the value of a heterosexual couple’s marriage is defined by the effort and commitment that they put into it rather than by the mere fact of their being married?

AS IF the Government did not have enough problems, the Catholic Church’s Cardinal Seán Brady has thrown down the gauntlet to it over its plans to introduce civil partnerships.

In a speech he delivered in Limerick last weekend, Brady claimed the Government’s long overdue plans to give legal and civil recognition to same-sex couples, which is due to be introduced by way of Dáil legislation before the end of the year, “will hugely change peoples’ concept of the family. Nevertheless, marriage between a man and a woman will always remain the ideal environment in which to raise children. Any government that undermines such an environment could hardly be said to be promoting the common good”.