Dublin 8 highest civil partnership rate

Sophie Cairns

According to a new report by the Irish Times, Dublin 8 holds the highest share of civil partnerships with 60 married lesbian or gay couples in the area.

These 60 couples join a total of 862 civil partnered couples registered between April 2011 and September 2012 across Ireland. Of these, 528 were gay and 334 were lesbian. In Europe, 1,724 LGB men and women united from 61 countries in civil partnerships during that same period. Most of them, 1,334 people were Irish.

Interestingly, the ages of people getting married were comparatively older than their straight counterparts. Over 1,000 of those taking part in civil partnerships were aged between 31 and 50. Fourteen of the individuals were aged over 70 and only 11 were aged between 18 and 20.

Kieran Rose, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network chair said that the new statistics have been a “resounding success” and remarks that “these couples are the pioneers who are transforming the perception of lesbian and gay relationships all across the country.”

Under the civil partnership act, partners have the same rights and obligations as married couples in areas of tax, inheritance, next of kin, social welfare, immigration and pensions.  That said, there are large areas left out of this  legislation in Ireland, especially in the area of family life. Children can only be adopted by gay people  singly. Where this brings danger to children, is where the ‘adoptive parent’ dies, the other parent is instantly cut off in the legal sense. Moreover, the child himself or herself has no connection with the surviving parent and is cast adrift.

A hope is that as more and more civil partnerships become registered in Ireland the Irish Government will become aware of the unique needs of the lebian or gay people.

Below is a youtube video of the Dublin people being asked their view on civil partnership in Ireland conducted by griner65.

Image left: www.glen.ie