Ireland is one step closer to allowing same-sex couples to enter into civil marriages.

 

One of the two houses of Irish Parliament Wednesday passed what is simply known as the Marriage Bill, granting same-sex couples the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples. Although the right has already been enshrined in the Irish constitution after voters approved it in a referendum in May (and legal challenges to it were dismissed), Parliament has to pass the bill before marriages can take place. 

 

“This is a day to thank the people of Ireland for their vote on May 22,” declared Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald, after the bill passed the Dáil Éireann, which is Irish for “Assembly of Ireland,” to great applause, according to a report from Irish broadcaster RTÉ. That vote made Ireland the the first country in the world to approve marriage equality by popular vote.

 

Wednesday marked a “momentous day on our journey towards a more equal republic,” said Robert Troy, a member of Parliament from the center-right Fianna Fáil party. 

 

Now the bill moves onto the Seanad, the Irish equivalent of the Senate. Same-sex marriages are expected to be taking place by November.

 

 

Watch RTE’s video from the Dáil, here.