Gay rights activists today responded to a statement by Ireland's Catholic Bishops in which they said the Civil Partnership Bill undermines the constitutional position of marriage.
In a statement issued yesterday following their Summer General Meeting, the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference called on the Government to support a free vote for all members of Dáil Éireann and the Seanad on the Bill as it passes through the Houses of the Oireachtas.
“Oireachtas Éireann is about to pass legislation that seeks to give same-sex relationships a standing which will be as similar as possible to marriage,” the statement said.
“This is not compatible with seeing the family based on marriage as the necessary basis of the social order and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and State.
"Nor does it ‘guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded’,” the statement said in a reference to the relevant passage in the Constitution.
“Bishops therefore appeal to Government to introduce amendments to the Bill to accommodate freedom of religious conscience on this vital matter.
£Bishops also ask Government to support a free vote for all members of Dáil Éireann and the Seanad on this Bill as it passes through the Houses of the Oireachtas.”
Responding to the Bishops’ position today, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) said there was a democratic consensus for Civil Partnership.
“The Catholic Bishops are, of course, entitled to their opinion on Civil Partnership,” said GLEN chairman Kieran Rose.
However, he added: “Civil Partnership will address many urgent and pressing issues that thousands of lesbian and gay couples face now.
“It provides a framework of support for two people who love and care for one another. It will establish a legal status and standing for same-sex relationships and a comprehensive set of rights, protections and mutually enforceable obligations on the part of civil partners that are comparable to those available to married couples.”
Mr Rose however said that gay rights groups remain concerned that the Bill does not provide legal recognition for same-sex couples who are co-parenting children.
£Children in these families are seriously disadvantaged by being ignored in the proposed legislation,” he said.