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IRISH GOVERNMENT MOVES TO KILL GAY UNIONS BILL |
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The Irish government last night introduced an amendment to postpone the second reading of a Bill to introduce civil unions for same sex couples, a move that would effectively quash the Bill.
 The Civil Unions Bill was introduced as a Private Members Bill yesterday evening by Labour TD, Brendan Howlin. Before it was introduced, the Tainaiste, Michael McDowell tabled an Amendment to postpone the Bill for six months, by which time the Dail will have been dissolved.
With a new government in place after that time, the Bill will be null and void.
In the Amendment, the government said that introducing gay marriage would challenge the constitutional definition of marriage in Ireland. But Mr Howlin argued that Labour’s Civil Unions Bill was devised as an alternative to gay marriage, and therefore would not challenge the constitution.
Mr Howlin told the Dail: "Under our Standing Orders, this Bill will fall when the Dail falls.
"It is shameful of the Government. It is a shameless betrayal of the words of the Taoiseach who I believed was ready to deal with this issue."
Labour TD Jan O'Sullivan described the Government's move one of the biggest political fudges she had seen for a long time.
"It is dishonest. It is a complete failure of political courage," she said.
The government said in their amendment that they are also waiting for the outcome of the Zappone/Gilligan Supreme Court appeal, in which a lesbian couple are seeking to have their Canadian marriage recognised under Irish law.
During the Dail debate on the Labour Bill, the Tainaiste said, "I know when people are grandstanding and this Bill a piece of grandstanding. It is lazy-minded and inadequate."
It is very rare for the Government to support an Opposition-sponsored Bill in the Dail.
Kieran Rose, Chair of GLEN, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, said, “This was a unique opportunity for the Oireachtas to legislate for equality for gay couples now, but which has been dismissed by the Government.
“The Amendment ignores and misrepresents the key recommendations of the government’s own Working Group on Domestic Partnership (The Colley Report).
“Furthermore, this issue has been debated intensively by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution and the Law Reform Commission.
“Lack of Civil Union laws seriously impacts on gay couples in their daily lives causing significant hardships. The Government had an obligation to deal with these issues responsibly, not to dismiss it in a political sleight of hand.”
GLEN is calling on the government to withdraw it’s Amendment and allow the Civil Unions Bill to pass Second Stage and to be discussed in detail at the Committee Stage.
The government’s amendment will be voted on tonight.
Source: gcn.ie |
