Same sex marriage: Irish couple celebrate new legal status as law takes effect

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Orla Howard signing the marriage register in 2013, watched by Dr Grainne Courtney and wedding officiate New York City Councillor Rosie MendezImage source, Orla Howard
Image caption,
Orla Howard signing the marriage register in New York in 2013, watched by Dr Grainne Courtney and wedding officiate New York City Councillor Rosie Mendez

At the stroke of midnight, family life changed for Irish woman Orla Howard and her wife Dr Grainne Courtney.

They are among the same-sex spouses who had already married abroad but whose marriages were not legally recognised in their own country, until now.

Monday morning has heralded a new dawn for them and many other gay and lesbian couples in the Republic of Ireland.

From midnight, same-sex marriage became legal and their two-year marriage is now automatically recognised in law.

'A different Ireland'

The couple, who have two grown-up daughters, met in Dublin 13 years ago and got married in New York in May 2013.

"We'll most definitely have a glass of champagne at midnight on Sunday night to celebrate the fact that we're properly married in Ireland," Ms Howard said.

"It's going to be absolutely fantastic," she added. "We've been campaigning for years and years, so it's a terrific moment."

Earlier this year, the family took part in the successful referendum campaign that saw 62% of the Irish electorate vote in favour of introducing civil marriage for same-sex couples.

Image source, Orla Howard
Image caption,
The family were photographed outside their home in Dublin before leaving to vote in May's same-sex marriage referendum

The vote was held 22 years after homosexual acts were decriminalised in the Republic of Ireland.

Ms Howard, a 50-year-old management consultant, has been open about her sexuality for almost 30 years, but said that when she made the decision to come out as a lesbian in her early 20s she did so in "a different Ireland".

"When I was coming out it was a very closed country.

"It was difficult to be who you are because society wasn't really interested or accepting of people who were gay or lesbian and so much has changed. Life has changed enormously."

She said that although she always expected that same-sex marriage would be legalised in her own country eventually, she was taken aback by the popular support for the Yes campaign.

"I didn't expect it to happen as quickly as it has done, or as emphatically and as happily as it has done. This year has been incredible for Ireland.

"Post-referendum, there's a huge sense that Ireland has done something incredibly good," she added.

"It is fair and it is the right thing to do and we're a better country for it, there's most definitely that feeling and sense from people."

Image source, Orla Howard
Image caption,
The family celebrated Orla and Grainne's wedding in New York two years ago, followed by family party in Dublin, but Orla says she would now like another celebration to mark their new legal status in Ireland

As a result of the Marriage Act 2015, same-sex marriages now have the same status under the Irish constitution as a marriage between a man and a woman.

'Promise'

Ms Howard said this was very important for her own family because children "weren't recognised in civil partnership legislation but they are recognised in marriage".

"It's a big issue for us but it's even more important for people who have small children and children under 18... to know that they have the same rights and constitutional protection as straight families do, this is going to be enormous."

So do the happy couple feel the need to celebrate their new legal status with an Irish wedding?

"My partner doesn't like big events," Ms Howard said of her wife, who works as a doctor at St James' Hospital in Dublin.

"I made a promise to her that I'd never make her marry me again.

"Now I'm kind of living to regret that, because I'd love to have another party.

"We're in negotiations about that."