Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

My good friend and colleague, Deputy John Lyons, spoke about the equal right to civil marriage, regardless of sexual orientation and gender. Equally, it is a great source of pride for parents around the country to submit their child's wedding photograph to the local paper, whether it is the Longford Leaderor the Waterford News and Star. I cannot wait for Deputy Lyons's ma to be able to send his wedding photograph to the Northside Peoplewhen we pass this referendum in May. Not only do the "mas and das" of the country take great pride in this but it is also a great source of embarrassment for us, their children. As somebody who was relatively recently married, I cannot wait for the day when my friends, colleagues and family members can experience the wonderful joy of being a married person.

Some of the people who speak out about this referendum talk about the issues of family and children. I ask the people who speak out against it that if a married couple does not have children, are they any less married than somebody who has children? We know they are not. It also causes great offence, as others have mentioned, to men and women around the country who have lost their partners in death and who have raised children as widows and widowers. Are these people any less of a family? No, they are not.

We must be really careful with young people living at home who have listened to radio stations and television debates. They are reading online articles and newspapers and it might be argued that there is something wrong with being gay and wanting to marry a loved one. We must be very careful in looking after these young, vulnerable people that Deputy Neville mentioned who have great difficulties in coming to terms with the fact they are gay. There are adults, including opinion formers, community activists and leaders, as well as leaders of religious organisation, who argue that being gay and the associated feelings are wrong. I am glad to say that is not true. This country has taken great strides to tackle the issues important to gay and lesbian people and include them. It is a source of great shame that it took until 1993 to decriminalise homosexuality; although that is a number of years ago, it is a relatively recent change to our Statute Book.

I am very proud to be part of a Government that is putting this question to the people of Ireland: do we believe that people who love each other should be allowed to make a declaration to say "I do"? Regardless of gender and sexual orientation, everybody in this country should be entitled to that day out. Every ma in the country should be entitled to wear her hat and every dad should be entitled to tremble at the thought of making a speech at that wedding. I believe strongly in this and for the first time in a long time in politics, I am excited about this campaign. There is a great sense of positivity and we are doing something good and momentous. We will be the first country in the world to put this question to a popular vote. It is a risky strategy but I hope and know the Irish people will be able to deliver on it.

I have been engaging with a really wonderful family lately who told me about a young son who they adopted from Russia. He is gay. The family brought him to this country for a better life and the family members told me, with great distress, that if he was still living in Russia, he would be imprisoned, beaten up or maybe killed by the regime over there. This family and the son's friends want Ireland to send a signal that we are a progressive country that treats all our citizens equally. For that young man, his family and families right around the country, the people of Ireland must come out to vote "Yes" in May. It is important to realise that the people who will vote "Yes" and have made up their minds cannot just speak to each other. We need to get out and talk to people who do not have this on their agenda. Perhaps these people have not made up their mind. We must ensure a good turnout and make this a real issue. We never know what is down the track for our children, our nieces, nephews, brothers, sisters, mothers or fathers. We do not know what will happen or who may come out in years to come. I know that I want to be part of an Oireachtas that will give the equal right to say "I do" to all our citizens, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. I thank the Minister for her efforts on this and I look forward to working with her until polling day in May.

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