Madam, - In her "Rite and Reason" column (March 18th), Gail Grossman Freyne quotes from a poll conducted by Lansdowne Market Research on behalf of The Iona Institute. Through no fault of her own, however, she misquotes the poll.
The poll does not state, as she says, that 57 per cent of respondents believe the State supports marriage mainly for couples. Instead it is the reverse, that is, 57 per cent of respondents believe the State supports marriage mainly for the sake of children. This mistake was the result of a typographical error when the charts accompanying the poll were being designed.
The correct responses can be verified by downloading the full Lansdowne findings from our website www.ionainstitute.ie.
On another point, Ms Grossman Freyne gets to the heart of the debate over same-sex marriage/civil unions. Do we support marriage because it is recognition of adult sexual love - heterosexual or homosexual - or is it because the family based on the marriage between a man and a woman has been shown to have particularly beneficial effects for children?
She believes the answer is the former, while we believe it is the latter on the grounds that the State has little interest in sexual relations per se, but has considerable interest in ensuring that children get the best possible start in life. Generally speaking, this is more likely to happen if they are raised by their married mother and father. - Yours, etc,
TOM O'GORMAN, The Iona Institute, 23 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.