News archive A Franco-Irish discussion on marriage equality at NUI Galway

The School of Law at NUI Galway, in association with the French embassy in Ireland, hosted a Franco-Irish discussion on marriage equality on April 25th.

The keynote speaker was Erwann Binet, deputy of the French National Assembly. Deputy Binet was the rapporteur for the French “mariage pour tous” (marriage equality) bill in 2013 and spoke on the political challenges faced in passing the bill through the French parliament.

Whereas marriage equality was legislated for in France without a referendum – despite significant political and public opposition – the Irish government has committed to holding a referendum to legalise same-sex marriage in 2015, as it believes that the Constitution in its current form would prevent this from being introduced through ordinary legislation. More than three quarters of the members of the Constitutional Convention recommended that the Constitution should be amended for provide for marriage equality for same-sex couples. Parallel to the debate on marriage rights, there has been move towards legislative reform concerning assisted reproduction and adoption rights in both countries.

In this light, this event, chaired by Dr. Eoin Daly, provided an insight on the shared experience of Ireland and France in undertaking legislative and constitutional reform in controversial areas of family law. The respondent was Dr. Lucy-Ann Buckley of the School of Law, who discussed how similar challenges are being faced in Ireland both in relation to marriage equality and family law reform.