This article is from page 3 of the 2012-10-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
CLARE has the second highest rate of same-sex civil partnerships in Ireland, with 15 couples from the county tying the knot since the civil partnership legislation became law in January of 2011.
According to figures released by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), Clare has the second highest incidence of civil partnerships per head of population – with only Dublin registering a higher rate of civil partnerships.
While 15 Clare couple have been granted civil partnerships, only two couples have been able to have their ceremony in the county.
According to Kilrush man and Director of GLEN, Brian Sheehan, the large uptake in civil partnerships will prove a stepping stone to full marriage for gay couples.
“It has been an incredible take-up in such a small space of time. I think once same-sex couples become more visible in Clare and other places, more and more people will see that a same-sex couple is no different from a heterosexual couple. This is people making a really profound commitment to each other,” said the West Clare man.
“I think people are starting to realise that this is a marriage, with all the same responsibilities and commitments.
“So more and more people are starting to see that gay couples should have all the same rights as other [heterosexual] couples. I think it has demystified it for a lot of people.
“When you look at the figures and see that 14 people over the age of 70 have had a civil partnership, you realise that people have been waiting for this for a long time, to have their relationships recognised. Many of these couples will have been together for 30 or 40 years.”
Under the current civil partnership legislation, there is still a legal connection between a civil partner and the biological children of his or her spouse.
This also creates issues surrounding adoption, when same-sex couples are not allowed to adopt jointly.