- Music
- 17 Dec 14
Votes on marriage equality and on lowering the minimum age for presidential candidates likely to be held on the same day.
The government has announced that the referendum on same sex marriage will take place in May 2015. The wording of the question to be asked in the referendum has not been decided yet. However, the aim is that a yes vote will enable same sex couples – male or female – to be legally married in Ireland in exactly the same way that heterosexual couples can.
“It is a mark of the progress that has taken place in this country in recent years and decades,” the Tánaiste, and Labour leader Joan Burton, said in a statement, adding that it, “indicates the extent to which attitudes to lesbian and gay people have changed.”
It was one of the commitments added to the Programme of Government by Labour that the issue would be addressed during the lifetime of the coalition. A huge majority of Irish people have indicated their support for same sex marriage in opinion polls, which suggests that the referendum should be passed. However, nothing is certain in politics until it has happened.
“It is vital that there should be no complacency on the issue,” one Labour insider said. “I have no doubt that the Irish people now have a completely different attitude to LGBT issues than would have been the case even a few years ago, but once a date is set, we have to run a really strong campaign to ensure a big turn-out, especially of young people – so that the new liberal mood will be fully reflected in the vote.”
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A second referendum, lowering the minimum age at which people can run for the Presidency from 35 to 21 will also be held in May. While this is not an emotional issue, nor indeed an especially controversial one, it will be interesting to see if any meaningful opposition to the proposal does emerge. The by-election to replace former Fine Gael Minister for the Environment, Phil Hogan, who resigned from his Dáil seat when he was appointed to as European Commissioner, will likely take place on the same day.
The exact timing remains unclear, though the half of May seems likely, to avoid clashing with exams.