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Eamon Gilmore addressing people at the Labour Youth Conference in Limerick yesterday. Twitter/@labouryouth
labour youth conference
Gilmore: ‘Same-sex marriage referendum will be held before the end of the lifetime of this government’
The Tánaiste said that he hoped a referendum would be held next year, but it could be in the spring of 2015.
ADDRESSING THE LABOUR Youth Conference in Limerick yesterday, Eamon Gilmore said that a referendum on same sex marriage would be held “in the lifetime of this government”.
A spokesperson for the Labour Party confirmed that Gilmore had indicated that he hoped to hold the referendum on same sex marriage in 2014, but that it could possibly be in the spring of 2015.
Constitutional Convention
In April, following the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention to accept same sex marriage, Gilmore stated that it is “not the role of the State to pass judgement on who a person falls in love with, or who they want to spend their life with”.
The Tánaiste has always had a strong opinion on same sex marriage.
Back in 2012, when he said he was including it as an item for the Constitutional Convention to consider he said he believed in gay marriage, stating, “the right of gay couples to marry is, quite simply, the civil rights issue of this generation and, in my opinion, its time has come”.
In the summer, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he considering staying neutral in a referendum on same-sex marriage, which could be an attempt to avoid any more defections from Fine Gael TDs.
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