Couples Say Yes To Love
These are the stories of Marriage Equality supporters - real couples with real love stories, talking about why marriage matters to them.
Wini Hannigan English & Pam English Hannigan
Marriage and marriage equality now matter to me because I have found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with and that is truly the most wonderful feeling I have ever experienced. I want my partner and I to have safety and security when it comes to our lives, our home, our finances and the children we may have. I want us to naturally be able to adopt each other's surnames and I want people to hear that I am married and for them to know that there is no difference between my marriage and a heterosexual
one.
Laura & Mary
"I've been turned to Marriage Equality thanks to Mary, when we met I always thought that the EU would force Ireland to legislate for same sex marriage, but she's taught me the need to fight. We don't want any special treatment, just to have our relationships the same in the eyes of the law as any other couples'. I hope that one day I'll be able to call her my wife."
Stephane & Dharsh
"We made a donation to Marriage Equality as we fully support their cause and hard work and also wanted to highlight this and raise awareness amongst our family and friends"
David & Gary
"We realise that we are lucky in that we could afford to get married as far away as Canada, and that this is not an option open to everyone."
Jessica & Niamh
"If I had a choice, it would be marriage. I appreciate that bringing civil unions in Ireland would be a baby step, that people get used to it and change happens slowly. But I do have this personal feeling that civil partnerships are kind of legislating inequality, which makes me angry."
Brian & David
"The government proposal is presumably that there will be a separate institution of civil partnership for same sex couples," says Brian, "with a separately defined set of rights and responsibilities, independent of marriage. That's like saying we should be happy with crumbs from the table. Even if it's similar to marriage but has a separate name, that's separating us in society, which is fundamentally unfair."