Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The debate was guillotined, which was unfortunate. Similar issues arose with regard to conscientious objection. Nobody should have any sympathy with anybody who would like to discriminate against a person on the grounds that he or she is gay. It should be and is against the law. Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation should be outlawed. There are exceptions to pretty much all of the prohibited grounds for discrimination simply to secure the common good. For example, a person employing somebody to look after his or her elderly parent is entitled to seek a person of a particular sex. The law would be a nonsense if exceptions to reflect important realities were not allowed.As a general principle, it should always be immoral and unlawful to discriminate against a person on grounds of his or her sexual orientation. However, refusing to provide a service in circumstances which one perceives to link one with something with which one conscientiously disagrees is not the same thing. This is why it is a real issue to ask where is the right to free expression, the constitutionally protected right to freedom of conscience, not just the freedom to believe certain things but the freedom to practise and live out one's beliefs. This freedom must be limited in accordance with public morality and order. For example, if my sincere beliefs put at risk another person's rights to safety or life, I am not, and should not be, allowed to express them. However, a person's right to full public recognition of his or her relationship could, in certain cases, hold somebody's deeply held principles up to scrutiny in a way that would embarrass that person, compromise his or her business or affect his or her personal or business relationships. If two people are in business together and one of them has a sincere disagreement with the redefinition of marriage, not because he or she is opposed to anybody's sexual orientation but because he or she has a certain idea of what marriage is, means and does for society, is there room for this person or that business in our new, tolerant Ireland?

Surely, there can be a way to balance a person's right to public recognition of his or her relationship, given that the law will provide for it if the referendum is passed, with another person's right to refuse a service based on his or her particular views, with the best will in the world and with good wishes to the prospective customer? This is what happened in the Drogheda case. The printer in question had previously dealt with the people seeking the service. However, when he realised he was being asked to produce invitations for a civil partnership event, he and his business partner felt it would impact in some way on their need to be publicly consistent with what they believed. I presume that the issue was that some printers will always print their name on each document they print. It is not a State printing service and this is not a communist society in which there is a monopoly.