David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is what the people of Ireland decided. If the Senator disagrees, that is his prerogative. The legal position is that the people of Ireland in a referendum decided on equality, and that is what we are dealing with now. It seems to me that the amendment is perfectly appropriate. As I said, if the churches want to get involved in civil marriage, Senator Mullen referred to the legal requirements of the State. What else would we have in civil marriage? In the churches, there are two things going on: there is the religious solemnisation of marriage and the churches also take it upon themselves to preside over the civil, State, aspects of marriage. If they want to engage in State civil marriage, then they, as everybody else, are subject to the law of the land, and they should be. That is the end of the argument, as far as I am concerned.