Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I move amendment No. 25:

In page 37, subsection (4), line 37, after "marriage" to insert ", provided that where a marriage takes place in contravention of those provisions in circumstances where the parties believe in good faith that one or both of them is in danger of death, and the parties or either of them or the person or the person celebrating the marriage proves the existence of such belief to the satisfaction of the Circuit Court, which application may be made after the celebration of the marriage, the said subsection shall not apply".

In 1995 the rainbow Government introduced the three months notification period. Naturally there was a commitment to this and it appears to be a good idea in principle. However, there is the difficult case in marriages where one of the partners is in imminent danger of death. While in principle it is possible to get an exemption from a Circuit Court judge, this may not be possible in a very limited number of cases and this amendment makes provision accordingly. I recognise this is an inherently difficult area.