via independent.ie
The government has approved the Heads of a Civil Partnership bill, paving the way for laws to give legal recognition to civil unions for same-sex and heterosexual couples.
The proposed legislation will bring Ireland into line with most EU States.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said the bill would have a number of key objectives:
“As well as providing for Civil Partnership Registration for same-sex couples, it will also provide certainty as to the status of cohabitation agreements, and a legal safety-net to people living in long term relationships who may otherwise be very vulnerable at the end of a relationship, whether through break-up or through bereavement.”
However, judging by comments made at Saturday’s Dublin Pride, the move for civil partnerships, rather than marriage, will not be welcomed by all LGBT people in the country, but it is doubtless a step in the right direction.
UPDATE: It’s now becoming clear that this legislation doesn’t cover the rights of children in these civil partnerships.
What comments were those?
One of the addresses implied that a lot of people felt that civil partnerships were somehow ‘less’ than marriage… A position I for one don’t agree with…
Ah. Yeah, that’s definitely wrong – civil partners have pretty much the same legal rights as married couples. The main difference I guess is that it’s not called a ‘marriage’ – but that’s more a reflection of the absence of any religious character of the union, rather than a sign of inferiority.
Indeed, and I’m not sure I’d want to ‘marry’ into an institution that disagrees with something so fundamental to me…
Yeah exactly – gay couples have it better than straight couples in my opinion. There’s no such thing as a secular marriage – perhaps the biggest problem with the civil partnerships legislation is that it only applies to same-sex couples!
I’m pleased to hear Ireland are pushing through the legislation and even more so that such a large portion of the population support our rights to have civil partnerships. I also disagree that civil partnerships are less than ‘marriages’ as the word marriage is strictly associated with religious constitution, as Joel so rightly points out, marriage and the church is a system which preaches so extremely against my beliefs and actions. Civil partnerships have been around for years for heterosexual couples and finally this is an equality, recognising lawfully our rights for the people we love and live our lives with.
where can you get a civil partnership in ireland