Government should capitalise on public appetite for reform

Mary C Murphy says while earlier Seanad reform proposals never saw the light of day. This Government has a chance to challenge that pattern of rejection.

For a small state, Ireland commands a degree of international recognition and attention which belies its size. The most recent example is Ireland’s yes vote for same-sex marriage which made front-page headlines around the world. Global reporting of the referendum result demonstrates how decisions made in Ireland can garner international attention, admiration, and perhaps even emulation.

Respect for Ireland and its people has traditionally been spread across all dimensions of public life from the artistic to the diplomatic, and from the cultural to the technological. To that list, we can now add rights for the LGBT community.