Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Like Senator Averil Power I have been sitting in my office for the past hour watching this debate. I am coming to the conclusion that there is a lack of tolerance by some of my colleagues. There is a lack of understanding of what equality is and what it means. I was fortunate enough in my own life to find somebody I loved and I have lived with that somebody for 37 years. It might just as easily have been a man as a woman. My colleague, Senator Katherine Zappone, is fortunate enough to have found somebody she loves. What right have I or anybody else to deny them the same status that I enjoy?