So it's a Yes - now how do I get married?

A Department of Justice offical told us that they are working with the Department of Social Proctection to pass the bill as soon as possible.

"The bill will first be brought in front of the Dáil, then to (the Seanad) before it will be signed by the President," he told us.

"This will happen in July."

Therefore we could see the first same-sex marriages in Ireland take place in early Autumn, earlier than originally thought.

“My intention is to seek Government approval for the Marriage Bill 2015 in June with the aim of introducing the Bill into the Oireachtas immediately thereafter so that the legislation can be enacted before the summer recess,” said Minster Fitzgerald.

As of now, the term civil partnership will no longer be used.

Both heterosexual or homosexual partnerships will be known as a civil marriage and can take place in all registry offices and suitable venues around the country.

Firstly, all couples who wish to marry in the Republic of Ireland are required to serve a minimum of three months/90 day notice of their intention to marry to a registrar.

You can do this by booking an appointment via the online booking system.

Couples who are currently counting down their 90-day notification of a civil partnership will automatically be converted to a notification of marriage.

This means anyone planning a civil partnership from August can instead get married.

Couples who already have a civil partnership will just need to sign in person in front of a registrar to update their partnership to a marriage.

Both parties of the marriage must attend in person to serve this notice and the three months notice will begin from that day.

If any on the following circumstances apply to you or your partner, you will have to contact one of the offices directly, as you will not be able to complete your booking online:

One or both parties hold a divorce decree, decree of nullity, or dissolution of civil partnership granted by court authorities outside the Republic of Ireland.

One or both parties live outside the Republic of Ireland and will not be able to attend a Civil Registration Service office in person at least three months prior to the date of their marriage or civil partnership ceremony.

One or both parties will be under the age of eighteen (18) on the date of their marriage.

You plan to have your Civil Marriage ceremony in a region other than where you will attend for your notification appointment - i.e. ceremony in West region and service of notice in East region. If both ceremony and notice appointment occur in the same region there is no need to contact the Registrar.

All couples are also required to download and complete this form.

The completed form should be brought to your notification appointment and the information given by you via this form should match the documentation you provide to the Registrar.

From January 23, 2013, a fee of €200 was set and must be paid at your notification appointment.

Additional fees apply for civil marriage ceremonies at venues other than the registry office.

In other news, in case you didn’t know, as of June last year civil marriages can now take place outdoors.

The Catholic Church will not be forced to carry out same-sex marraiges.

In comments on that topic Health Minister Leo Varadkar said: "it remains the case 20 years later that nobody has forced the Catholic Church, or any church to re-marry people against their own doctrine."

For additional information contact: www.civilregistrationservice.ie