Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

While one seldom hears of cases of marriage ceremonies being interrupted, one such case occurred in my constituency in the past fortnight when the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service arrived at a registrar's office in the middle of a marriage ceremony and served an order on the registrar to cease and desist the ceremony on the basis that it has been contrived for the purpose of status. I do not know if the Minister has taken advice on this matter but the problem in such cases is that it is difficult to find out how such interventions can be undone. Counsel for the couple whose marriage was stopped has applied to the Garda and registrar for clarity. The former has indicated it no longer has an objection to the marriage taking place, while the latter will not proceed. I wonder about the process involved and whether it is an issue, in general terms, that we may need to revisit.

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