Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In supporting this Bill, I wish first to praise my former party leader, Deputy Eamon Gilmore. We would not be where we are today but for his insistence that there be a referendum on marriage equality. I imagine that when he insisted on this, many people felt that there was no guarantee that it would go through. It is a sign of his far-sightedness that the threshold could be crossed. As someone who lived through the divorce referendum and who saw how that barely passed 20 years ago, I had a nervousness that the referendum would not carry or would only barely carry. I thought there would be a slippage into the "No" camp towards the end of the campaign. I thought the referendum would carry but I thought it would do so by a smaller majority. My apprehension was based on the experience of the divorce referendum, which barely scraped through.

We live in a changed world. To give a personal twist on this issue, when I was in my twenties I did the graduate teaching course in St. Patrick's in Drumcondra. On a number of occasions I had a dispute with the lecturer in religion about whether people should be obliged to teach denominational religion if they did not have the religious faith concerned. It was most interesting that while nearly all of my classmates agreed with what I was arguing, none of them would speak. It was possible for me to speak because I happened to be part of a minority.

I knew I would not be looking for a job in a Catholic school so I did not feel any nervousness in arguing that viewpoint. I believe we are in a changed place. I cannot envisage that being the case now.

I know the Minister of State present will recognise this. We can be very proud that irrespective of the denominational connection of most of our schools, from my knowledge and experience the practice is that schools are places of tolerance and inclusion, and every effort is made by the staff of schools to be inclusive and to encourage tolerance. It is because of that we are in a good place.

I agree with the remarks of the pervious speaker, Deputy Nolan, on the teaching of religion. The German model is quite a good model if we could start from scratch. We have the great advantage of tradition and a determination on the part of schools to ensure that people are accepted and treated with respect. In view of that I am optimistic that the path forward on this legislation will be positive and beneficial for the country.

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