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IRISH PEOPLE WILL tomorrow be given the chance to decide whether or not couples in same-sex relationships are given the right to marry in this country.
In the run up to the vote, TheJournal.ie spoke to some people whose lives will be affected by the outcome.
Eddie Parsons was 54 years old when he came out. He was married and had two children. Being gay was something he struggled with for decades, he told us, as when he was young “the word gay didn’t exist”. He suffered from severe depression, had to leave his teaching job and eventually decided it was time to be himself.
Though he has neither the desire nor the intention to get married again, he said a Yes vote means a lot to him because of the struggles he had with his own sexuality and because it will offer him, and other gay people in Ireland, the same rights and respect as other citizens.
We also spoke to Dil Wickremasinghe and Ann Marie Toole ahead of the birth of their baby boy Phoenix, who came into the world on Sunday. The couple met at a mental health retreat and said they knew instantly that they would be lifelong friends. Right now, they feel like their new family is not treated as equal to other families in the country.
They said they want their child to grow up in a society that accepts everyone for who they are and that is why a vote in favour of same-sex marriage is so important to them.
Watch the video below and let Eddie, Dil and Anne Marie tell you in their own words:
Keith Mills, who has been one of the main spokespersons for Mothers and Fathers Matter, said this referendum has been like “coming out all over again” for him. He said it is important for him, as a gay man who is voting No, to stand up for what he believes is right. For Mills, marriage is about family and “not a way to measure relationships”.
He believes there is a difference between the relationships of heterosexual couples and gay couples and that is why he is voting No. “It’s not a matter of better or worse, it’s a matter of recognising difference and celebrating diversity.”
Paddy Manning said he grew up in an Ireland that was “ferociously hostile”. He was one of the last people arrested under the 1869 Offences Against the Persons Act. “Young, alone terrified; that experience nearly killed me,” he said. Now he claims he is being accused of being homophobic because he is against the “redefinition of marriage”.
He believes marriage is, at its heart, about children and providing those children with their biological parents. Manning fears that a Yes vote tomorrow could mean he, and others who express similar views, will be punished for expressing their opinions and “we should not vote for that”.
Watch this video from Mothers and Fathers Matter to hear from Keith and Paddy:
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So they have all agreed on how much extra taxation is needed to save the world.
@Derek Anderson: nope.
For an example. Moving to an electric family car costs about €45k – €60k which most of us don’t have to spend on a car. How is the regular working person or family to go green when it’s financially crippling.
@TheKloppKop: the year 2180 will do
@TheKloppKop: that’s just your transportation! Retrofit your house to the new standard and add another €100,000 on minimum
How come our planet is after becoming so fragile all of a sudden. Another plan to restrict people’s movement.
@John brett: where are you getting this all of a Sudden, they have been saying this decades.
@Sue Kelly: Yes they have been saying this for decades. That’s why people are complacent. They are doing nowhere near enough to address the problem they are talking about. People think we have plentry of time. And let’s face it. Very few are prepared to make the sacrifices that are realistically needed to make the difference; you and me included.
@John brett: planet has always been fragile, a combination of 6 Celsius warming and/or over hunting killed off the Giant Irish Elk, the mammoth, wolly rhinoceros, dire wolves, saber toothed tigers, North America Camels and horses, and many other megafauna, and also 2 subspecies of humans (Neanderthal and Devensovan).
We’ve been very lucky these past 10,000 years, global temperature have hardly varied by 1 degree Celsius, that said a little further warming was enough to turn the Sahara from a green oasis to a desert by 6000 years ago. That happened over several thousand years, not 100.
@Vonvonic: What sacrifices would that be Sue? I recycle as much as is humanly possible, I try not to turn on the heat unless it’s baltic, I cycle to work, and much and all as I’d love to buy an electric car, I couldn’t afford one. Been green comes at a great cost which the average person can’t afford, so what I outlined earlier is about all I can contribute.
@The Firestarter: You shouldn’t personalise what I’ve said. Greta is right. To solve this problem is going to take wholesale structural changes on how we live… all of us. I don’t see it happening to be honest… we’re way to find of our stuff for that.
@Vonvonic: fond
@Vonvonic: that’s baloney. I swear that gremlins head will do a 360 one of these days. I can’t afford to be green. Even the new refill deodorant is €25 or something. I can get 2 pairs of jeans for that.
@The Firestarter: Sure even if you got an electric car eventually you won’t even be able to charge the thing. Our energy policy for the future seems to revolve around wind…
Unless China and American come on board we are at nothing.
@marcusmckenna: absolutely. Well said
@Anna Carr: Their choices shouldn’t impact ours. We already owe them 100 years of carbon emissions, and their excessive emissions in the last 2 decades are one of the sole stimuli that prevented total global collapse post 2008.
Regardless, if just Europe went carbon neutral by 2030 it would still buy more time for the transition.
This needs to be done. And any contribution will help stave off complete catastrophe and save some extra fraction of our civilisation
If you think I’m being dramatic: it’s accepted that 1.5°+ of heating will doom vulnerable nations. This puts us on course for 2.7°. That will doom the southern stretches of the north and have catastrophic impacts on the productivity of farmlands.
It’s the end of our civilisation.
Anything that can delay that will help.
@Alan Dunne: We already owe them 100 years of carbon emissions…lol
Unlike Europe China has been using coal for 6,000 years
China & India had an iron industry in 1300BC, they were mass producing iron and later steel products 1,000 years before Europe, the iron & later steel industry became a state monopoly in China in 200BC.
Yep, so if we just get people to pay more taxes the Climate God will be Appeased and will not destroy us.
How wonderful now could they take Eamonn Ryan and send him to MARS
Ireland is but a dot in the Atlantic Ocean so no matter what we do will make no difference but Irish people will pay the price in taxes
@Colette Mooney: you’re correct of course that carbon taxes have very little to do with limiting the climate catastrophe but if Ireland were to decide to act effectively, equitably, and immediately, even alone, it’s not something we should hesitate to do.
Developing energy independence, sustainable farming, these are things that will stand us in very good stead to face whats coming.
And though our actions alone won’t stop it, they will delay it, even marginally, and even a delay can help us avert civilisational catastrophe if everyone gets on board eventually.
Followed it a lot this week to see what could be done and all I heard was some of the best fiction speeches you’ll ever hear
If you and me would stop buying tat and trashing the planet.. In other words the root cause of the problem it seems to me, is insatiable consumerism. This Christmas is a good place to start.
@Charles Barker: well said
Forget about Ireland….have a look at the 16 lane Highways in LA full of large 4 x 4 ‘s with 5ltr engines
COP-OUT26, nothing of real substance agreed. India, USA, China and Russia are inserting loopholes which can effectively negate any commitments.
The biggest load of ballix
@Stiofán Ó Cearnaigh: I’d say you wouldn’t be able to elaborate on that by even two or three sentences.
Any mention of the rainforests?
I feel sorry for the people that believe the aspirational political doublespeak and rhetoric that comes from politicians at these summits.
Politicians speaking about climate change or carbon emissions should have to wear and display corporate sponsorship, in the same way as motor racing drivers do.
It’s much more revealing to look at what the any past commitments have resulted in on these issues, rather than the can kicking soundbites which are meant to delfate and negate the legitimate arguments and campaigns, which challenge the financial interests of their corporate sponsors.
They operate on a simple formula, issue a meaningful soundbite to placate the masses, over a long enough timeframe so they think its being addressed, but they also dont expect to see results any time soon..
Anything there that won’t be completely useless and cost us a fortune?
@Anna Carr: Rumour has it Eamon Ryan returned with massive Euro signs in his eyes and a strange, twisted smile. Must have gone really well!
Ugh god you lot give over about tax and the cost of this. Do you want to live or not? Do you want a safe world for your kids? The economy is what we make it. Nature doesn’t care about it. Which do you think would win? Nature or the economy? Hint: one had been around a lot longer and has survived mass extinction before.
Órla is busy typing
Interestingly there’s no mention of Germany’s stance on this (who, you know, also happens to be EU’s powerhouse): https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/government-dispute-over-e-fuels-stops-germany-signing-cop26-car-pledge
Nor is there any mention of where the likes of Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, and BMW stand wrt the issue.
One wonders why.. Could it be that by creating the notion that everyone is (and must be) behind this, additional taxes and cost of living skyrocketing will be easier to swallow? Talking about selective reporting 101…
Why don’t just provide us all with electric cars if they are that concerned.
A lot of people are being left behind in the rush to be green.
Not that they will notice as smugness goes with the gig.
The idea that everybody can walk and cycle everywhere is a typical example.
The idea that everyone can afford to live a green lifestyle.
An awful lot of us can barely afford to live at present.
Of course we don’t matter and we won’t be asked or conducted with.
Real equality is one of the first casualties of these policies.
Rules are regulations don’t count anymore.
Just say your saving the planet and you get away with anything.
have your say