Ireland recently became the first country ever to vote to legalise gay marriage, when over 62% of those who voted did so for the proposition that same-sex couples should be able to wed.
Although many countries have legalised gay marriage, Ireland’s written constitution demanded that any change to the current laws would have to be done through a referendum, and so it was on 22nd May that the country went to the polls on the proposition that:

“Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”

The referendum result is of particular interest, as it has only been 22 years since homosexual acts were decriminalised in the country.

For those couples planning their wedding in Ireland, post referendum, they will now have the excitement of organising their special day and, in particular, looking for the best wedding photographer. North West England may be over the water, though it could potentially be a good place to start for those happy couples excited at the prospect having their partnership legally recognised.

Now though, these couples can do so in the knowledge that their marriage is protected by the constitution, so it would require another vote to remove what they have just gained.

In a largely catholic country there were, naturally, some reservations about the change and there was a sizeable minority not in agreement, though both sides of the debate should take great credit by the way they went about advocating their respective positions.