Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome. I wholeheartedly welcome the Bill.Many speakers have outlined the different people who were involved. I do not want to fall into the trap, as the Minister said, of naming one or two and not appreciating the efforts made by so many - we can read their names - and by the country as a whole. The power of storytelling came back to life in Ireland throughout the referendum campaign, something that we would have talked about of old. We saw that power working at a local level from people having casual chats and people talking to one another about the issue on the street. They were having those discussions with people they had never met before.

The Minister rightly paid tribute to the work that Senator Norris did. I remember as I was growing up hearing him speak of issues that were foreign to me at the time but that was part of my education. He certainly worked towards us having a more equal Ireland. I am also privileged to have Senator Zappone as a colleague in my group. I always knew we were equal but I am delighted that this Bill will ensure that both of us can have equality in terms of marriage in our relationships.

As legislators we are on the cusp of making history by translating the will of the people, through popular vote on 22 May, into marriage equality legislation. I am proud about this development. My husband is Dutch and, as the Minister will know, the Netherlands was the first country to do this through legislation. I was very proud when I recently went to the Netherlands to receive the greetings from everybody there who were proud that Ireland is the first country to do this by the will of the people.

I have been unequivocal in my support for this outcome. I was delighted to give my voice to the simple yet powerful "Vote With Us" video message campaign, which invited people of all ages and from all walks of life to explain why they would be voting "Yes" in the marriage equality referendum. I was also honoured to give the keynote address at the launch of the BeLonG To "Yes" campaign, which was the largest coalition of children and youth organisations supporting a "Yes" vote in the referendum. It included the ISPCC, Barnardos, Foróige, Youth Work Ireland, the Migrant Rights Centre, Headstrong, Yes Equality, the Children's Rights Alliance, Pavee Point, EPIC and the National Youth Council of Ireland, as well as BeLonG To, the national organisations for LGBT young people.

On a separate but related note it strikes me, as I reference the support from Pavee Point, that our national organisation is striving to promote and protect the human rights of Irish Travellers. Given some of the issues that have arisen in the wake of the tragedy in the Carrickmines, we have a long way to go before we secure equality for all in Ireland. I hope that the same generosity of spirt that the Irish people have displayed here will be emulated across all social justice issues.

As the Minister will be aware, I will be tabling an amendment to the Bill for discussion on Committee Stage on Thursday. It concerns the marriage age and removing the court ordered exemption to the ordinary minimum age of 18 years. She will be familiar with my concerns in this area, following the motion I tabled with my colleague, Senator Ivana Bacik, and the Labour Party back in June 2014. I am using this Bill to raise the marriage age issue only because we are heading towards a general election in the new year and I can see no other appropriate Bill coming down the line. This is a concern I have across our arrangements for marriage generally and to protect childhood and it in no way relates to the extension of equal marriage right to same-sex couples. I look forward to elaborating my concerns on Thursday.

As I look at the faces of the people in the Visitors Gallery it brings back to me the hopes and the dreams we saw in so many people. I see that each individual here could fill us with their stories. It transports me to the upper courtyard in Dublin Castle on the day of the count. There was an older gentleman who was crying and we had a good chat. He was crying with joy and with sadness because he was grieving for a life he could never live or have but he was so happy that the young people would have a life that he could never experience. It was a touching, poignant moment for me to realise the burden that we have placed on so many people. Let us all remember and capture that positive power of equality and how good it feels to share equality. This Bill does not affect me personally but does it affect me emotionally because it means I live in a more equal Ireland. Let us remember that power when we are looking at all social justice issues.