Hello my friends!

Today I will talk about a significant new that happened few weeks ago in Ireland: the referendum concerning the gay marriage!

Twenty-two years ago, in 1993, Ireland legalized homosexuality, and on the 22th May, the people of Ireland have exercised their Constitutional right and by direct vote they have said an emphatic ‘Yes’ to equality. Ireland now joins twenty other countries where same-sex marriage has been made possible. It is also the first country in the world to do so by a vote of the people, which added a particular flavour to it. However, the result required ratification in the Oireachtas (the legislature of Ireland) before going into legal effect, though it is estimated that the first same-sex marriages will take place in Summer 2015.

The "yes" to gay marriage was approved by 62.06% of voters, according to final results. The Irish have voted in favour of the following sentence: "Marriage can be contracted according to the law between two people regardless of gender". For Enda Kenny (the Irish Prime Minister), this is a strong signal to the world that the Irish can be pioneers, even in matters of morals.

Paul Higgins (left) and Richard Lucey, who have been civil partners for four years and partners for 19 years, wear t-shirts displaying numbers for Yes voters on George's Street in Dublin.

The subject fascinated Ireland in recent months. Posters were hung on all streetlights, and the voter turnout level exceeded 60%, higher than the usual average referendums. The opposition camp has not mobilized as the protests against the "marriage for all" in France have been able to. The explanation is partly political: all parties in power and in opposition have campaigned for gay marriage. The other explanation is the deep change experienced by the Irish society in just two decades. This very Catholic country, where the clergy control almost all the schools gradually abandoned all the taboos of yesteryear.

To the Irish people, to those who voted ‘Yes’, you have done something that should make you forever proud. With that, Ireland could now be a better and fairer place. The referendum changed more than the Irish Constitution, “it has reshaped forever the republic in which we live”, the Yes Equality campaign has said. Moreover, abortion remains an untouchable subject. The law still prohibited it, except in cases of "real and substantial risk" to the lives of women.

See you very soon with a new article about the Pub Culture in Ireland!