Press Release: Justice  12  May 2006

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12 May 2006

Green Party calls on McDowell to provide for partnership rights without delay

As research from the Irish Human Rights Commission points to breaches of international obligations 

The Green Party has called on the Minister for Justice to treat the issue of partnership rights for unmarried couples, both heterosexual and same-sex, as a matter of urgency.  The call comes on foot of the launch today of the Irish Human Rights Commission commissioned report “The Rights of De Facto Couples”. 

Green Party Justice and Equality spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe TD said:  “I want to congratulate the authors of this important report, Judy Walsh and Fergus Ryan, for highlighting the anomalous position of Ireland within the International community on the issue of partnership rights.  The report argues that Ireland may be in breach of the Good Friday Agreement in failing to introduce a civil partnership scheme for same-sex couples. The Agreement provides for equivalent human rights protection in both jurisdictions, and since the introduction of the Civil Partnership Act in the UK late last year, Ireland has now fallen behind the UK.  The authors also suggest that Ireland is in breach of the EU Convention on Human Rights which provides for the protection of a person's private and family life and has extended this right to families other than those based on marriage.

“As a member of the All Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution I was party to the drafting of the Committee’s Report on the Family, launched earlier this year.  As I have stated before, I was extremely disappointed that the debate was such a cautious one, and didn’t engage sufficiently with the reality of family life in Ireland today. I would like to have seen more discussion of the difficulties facing lone parents, cohabiting couples and those in same-sex relationships.   

“I am calling on the Minister for Justice to recognise the fact that Ireland is languishing in an ever-decreasing minority group of EU Member States that do not permit some form of recognition of rights and obligations for de facto couples.  The Minister and his Working Group on Domestic Partnerships must work as quickly as possible to remedy this situation.”