Cork printer offers to help gay couple after wedding invite snub

Drogheda hairdresser Jonathon Brennan is due to wed his partner of eight years, John Kierans, in August.

Beulah Print refused to take their order to print their wedding invites on religious grounds, despite Mr Brennan being a client of theirs for the past four years.

This evening however, Coolgrey Design and Print in Cork city offered to print the invites for the couple – for free.

“We at Coolgrey Design and Print would gladly come to their aid and print their invites free of charge,” said Anthony Cotter, creative director Coolgrey Design and Print.

“We have the Cork Gay Pride Festival committee as a client and would find it disappointing if they as a group were handled in this manner.

“We hope they get sorted, it's 2015 and a person’s big day should be cherished no matter what their sexual orientation."

Mr Brennan said the couple would be seeking legal advice before deciding whether to lodge a complaint of discrimination against Beulah Print.

Mike O’Leary, one of the co-owners of Beulah Print, defended the decision not to print the invites, citing his Christian beliefs.

A statement from the company read: "We, at Beulah Print, are Bible-believing Christians who are committed to standing by our conscience and God’s Word.

“We have been in business for 12 years during which time we have held to our convictions and have at times declined a variety of work which we felt was clearly contrary to our beliefs.

“We have never hidden our faith from our customers and represent the gospel at every opportunity.

“We are not against homosexuals, however, we do not support same sex marriage, which printing wedding invitations would do.”