A chara, - I note that a renegade rump of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party is attempting to block Government plans for the introduction of civil partnerships for same-sex couples ( The Irish Times, June 27th).
Before Senator Jim Walsh takes up the cudgels for the Legion of Mary brigade, he really ought to read page 26 of the party's 2007 election manifesto, for which I for one, and presumably he too, campaigned enthusiastically last year:
"Based on our republican ethos and building on the agenda for equality to which we are committed", Fianna Fáil "will address the need to provide a legal framework that supports the rights of same-sex couples, including by extending State recognition to civil partnerships between such persons so that they can live in a supportive and secure legal environment."
This long-overdue reform, supported by all Oireachtas parties and an overwhelming majority of the Irish people, is not being forced upon the Government by either Europe or a junior coalition partner. It is, quite rightly, being driven by Fianna Fáil itself, the same party which decriminalised homosexuality and which introduced some of the most comprehensive equality legislation in the world.
Senator Walsh's nasty and narrow-minded motion is an embarrassment which has no place in a modern, inclusive, forward-thinking political party.
I am confident that the party leadership will take the opportunity to emphatically demonstrate that this is so. - Is mise,
DAVID CARROLL,
Castle Gate,
Dublin 2.