There are no gay people in County Clare..........

 

Only one Irish county did not have a gay marriage since vote

Total of 412 same-sex marriages registered since May 2015

 

A total of 412 same-sex couples across the State have married since 1.2 million Irish people voted in favour of same-sex marriage a year ago.

 

This weekend exactly one year ago, on May 22nd 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to introduce same-sex marriage by popular vote with 62 per cent voting in its favour.

 

Statistics released by the Department of Social Protection ahead of the anniversary of the referendum show that 412 same-sex marriages have been registered in the past year.

 

The vast majority of these ceremonies took place in the capital with 213 marriages registered in Co Dublin over the past year. There were 43 same-sex marriages in Co Cork, followed by 25 in Co Limerick, 17 in Co Wicklow and 14 in Co Galway.

 

The lowest number of registered same-sex marriages took place in Carlow, Leitrim and Monaghan with only one marriage in each county

 

There were no same-sex marriages registered in Co Clare last year.

 

Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar welcomed the high figures of same-sex couples who had chosen to get married over the last year and described the referendum as “a historic day for Ireland”.

 

“One year on, it’s really great to see that 412 marriages have now taken place which otherwise would not have happened,” said Mr Varadkar. “It’s a timely reminder of that momentous vote on that momentous day.”

 

There were also a total of 966 same-sex marriage notifications received over the past 12 months. The highest number came from Dublin with 475 notifications, followed by 86 notifications in Cork and 50 in Limerick.

 

The Marriage Act 2015 came into effect in November 2015, six months after the referendum took place. The signing of the order gave effect to the referendum which approved marriage being available to same-sex couples.

 

While homosexual couples intending to marry must give three months’ notice – in the same way as opposite-sex couples must – a fast-track civil partnership provision applies under the Marriage Bill 2015.

 

According data released by the Central Statistics Office in April, there were 376 civil partnerships last year, 250 male and 126 female. Over three quarters of these (294) were of couples living in Leinster, with over half (248) living in Dublin. There were no civil partnerships in Carlow, North Tipperary, Leitrim, Roscommon, Cavan or Monaghan

 

In total, 1,201,607 people voted in favour of same-sex marriage last year with 734,300 against, giving a majority of 467,307. Roscommon-South Leitrim was the only constituency to reject the amendment.

 

The resounding Yes vote resulted in a new sentence being added to Article 41 of the Constitution. It reads: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”

 

SOURCE

Sorcha Pollak, THE IRISH TIMES

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/only-one-irish-county-did-not-have-a-gay-marriage-since-vote-1.2654751

 

This article states the number of same sex marriages since May 2015 but actually same sex marriages could only take place from late November 2015 when the legislation was enacted

 

Ireland's increase in Marriages of Convenience....

During the recession, Ireland rather incredibly became a destination point for those seeking to enter in marriages of convenience with "brides" been flown in from Eastern European countries and in later years from Portugal....see below RTE's recent coverage of the trend.....

Court hears of increase in number of suspected 'marriages of convenience'

A court in Mayo has heard how a dramatic increase in the number of suspected marriages of convenience prompted an investigation by the Garda National Immigration Bureau.

Giving evidence before Castlebar District Court today, Detective Brendan Ó'Somacháin said there had been a huge increase in the number of marriage notifications involving EU and non-EU nationals in recent years.

He said the purpose of these unions was to obtain EU Treaty rights based on marriage to a citizen of the European Union.

There were 3,200 such notifications in 2014 and 7,000 last year.

Detective Ó'Somacháin said a tightening of restrictions in the UK had contributed to the increase here. He said many people were travelling by ferry from Britain to Northern Ireland and then crossing the border into the Republic.

He told the court that many of the arranged marriages involved people originally from the Indian subcontinent.

The number of Pakistani nationals getting married here rose from 91 in 2013 to 973 in the first eight months of 2015.

He was giving evidence in proceedings against Nadia Mir, of Bracklaghboy, Knockroe, Ballyhaunis. She is charged with breaches of the 2004 Civil Registration Act and with providing false or misleading information under the terms of the 1996 Refugee Act.

She was remanded on continuing bail to appear before the District Court in September.

SOURCE: RTE
http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/0517/789033-court-marriages-of-convenience/#