149 Trans People Have Their Gender Officially Recognised by Ireland

IN THE FIRST nine months since new legislation was introduced, 149 people have been granted permission to legally register as a different gender from that noted at their birth.

Of the 149 gender recognition certificates issued, four were granted to applicants who were aged 16 and 17 years old. Twenty-one were issued to non-Irish born residents of the State.

One hundred people subsequently requested a new birth certificate to change the record of their gender at birth. This was done thro

ugh the Register of Gender Recognition maintained by the General Register Office.

A total of 18 passports were issued to people who have received the recognition certs. Three of those were to people under the age of 18.


The figures were published by the Department of Social Protection today and cover the period from 4 September 2015 to 30 June 2016.

The 2015 laws allow for a person to be formally recognised in their preferred gender. There have been no applications rejected since the commencement of the Act, and no certificates have been revoked.

According to the department, “There has been very positive feedback from clients in respect of the timely and professional manner in which applications have been dealt with since the commencement of the Act.”

The need to introduce legislation stemmed from a High Court order in March 2008 which declared that certain sections of the Civil Registration Act 2004 were incompatible with Ireland’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Today is being marked by the transgender community across the world as International Transgender Day of Remembrance. The day was set aside to remember those who have died as a result of hatred or prejudice, its organisers say.

Source: The Journal.ie

Irish Passport Applications from Britain Have Doubled Over Past Two months

The number of Irish passport applications from people living in Britain has more than doubled in the past two months since the Brexit vote.

New figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin show that number of applications in August and September rose by more than 100 per cent on the previous year.

In September 2015 there were 3,431 Irish passport applications received from Great Britain compared to 7,518 from the same month this year - a rise of almost 120 per cent.

Applications from Northern Ireland have increased by two thirds since the UK voted to leave the European Union in June's landmark vote.

In August there was an almost 80 per cent increase in the number of applications from 2015, while last month there were 4,126 applications made, compared to 2,549 in September 2015, an increase of more than 60 per cent.

Since the Brexit vote on June 23 there has been a steady rise in demand for Irish passports.

In the immediate aftermath post offices across the north reported a surge of interest, with some branches even running out of forms due to unprecedented demand.

The Irish News reported in July how the high level of demand had affected the operation of Northern Ireland’s General Register Office, which handles the documents for all births, deaths and marriages.

Research work at the Belfast office was restricted in the weeks following the referendum as the need for birth certificates from people applying for Irish passports soared.

As part of the Good Friday Agreement everyone in Northern Ireland is entitled to both British and Irish citizenship.

Source: Gareth McKeown, The Irish News

Some Interesting Registers Held by GRO in Roscommon......

In 2004 Birth Death and Marriage Records in Ireland were all scanned onto a national computer system for access at any local Civil Registraion Office.

However there are some Registers that were not scanned on and they are held at The General Register Office, (Oifig an Ard-Chláraitheora), located at Government Offices, Convent Road, Roscommon, Co. Roscommon. 

In addition to the records maintained at the Family Research Facility in the Werburgh Street, Dublin 2 indexes to the following Registers of life events are maintained solely at Roscommon.

These include:

• Births at Sea of children, one of whose parents was born on the island of Ireland between 1st January, 1864 and 31st December, 1921. Births at Sea of Children, one of whose parents was born in Ireland after 1921.
• Deaths at Sea of persons born on the island of Ireland between 1st January, 1864 and 31st December, 1921 and of persons born in Ireland after 1921.
• Births of children of Irish parents, certified by British Consuls abroad, between 1st January, 1864 and 31st December, 1921.
• Deaths of Irish-born persons, certified by British Consuls abroad, between 1st January, 1864 and 31st December, 1921.
• Marriages celebrated in Dublin by the late Rev. J F G Schulze, Minister of the German Protestant Church, Poolbeg Street , Dublin , from 1806 to 1837 inclusive.
• Births, Deaths and Marriages registered pursuant to the provisions of the (Army) Act, 1879.
• Births and Deaths registered pursuant to the provisions of the Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 1960.
• Certain births and deaths occurring outside the State (Pursuant to the provisions of The Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1972, Sec. 4).
• Certain Lourdes Marriages (Pursuant to the provisions of the Marriages Act, 1972, Sec.2).
• Stillbirths registered in Ireland from 1st January 1995 (certified copies available to parents only).
• Deaths of Irish officers and enlisted persons killed in action or who died while serving abroad in The Great War (WW1) 1914 - 1919.
• Death returns relating to the South African War (1899 – 1902) in so far as they relate to Irish subjects.

Irish Government Set to Finally Ban Forced marriages

Forced marriages are to be outlawed in Ireland under legislative proposals being brought before the Cabinet today

The new law will criminalise a practice prevalent in certain cultures and is one of a raft of measures being proposed by Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald as part of an overhaul of domestic-violence legislation.

It will make it an offence to force a person to marry where they do not consent to it or where consent is given under duress, either though emotional, physical, sexual or financial pressure.

The proposed offence will also cover situations where an adult or a child is removed or lured from Ireland to another territory for the purpose of forcing them to enter into a marriage.

The move comes two years after a similar law was introduced in the UK, which brought in a sentence of up to seven years for the offence.

Penalties there can be even higher where there are aggravating factors. A Cardiff man ended up being jailed for 16 years for forcing a Muslim woman to marry him. The case involved considerable harassment and rape.

Consultations are ongoing between the Department of Justice and the Attorney General on the penalties which will apply here.

Officials said there was limited information on the scale of the problem in Ireland as, by its very nature, forced marriage is a very hidden practice.

Subject to Cabinet approval, the new domestic violence bill is expected to be published in the next two months.

If passed, the bill would bring Ireland in line with the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe anti-domestic violence convention agreed in 2011, but which Ireland only signed up to last year.

As well as the forced marriage provisions, the bill is also set to include the introduction of civil protection orders.

In other jurisdictions where such orders are used, they can go further than traditional restraining orders and impose certain additional obligations on the alleged abuser.

The proposed legislation will include provisions which mean a victim will not have to have a greater or equal interest in a property to get a barring order against their partner or spouse.

It will also become possible for a victim to give evidence by video link to avoid the risk of intimidation by the perpetrator or an associate in a courtroom.

Courts will be able to appoint an expert to ascertain the views of a child where an order is sought on behalf of, or will partly relate to, the child.

There will also be restrictions on the categories of person allowed to be in court during criminal proceedings relating to domestic violence, so that the victim will not have to give evidence, potentially of a distressing nature, before a large number of strangers.

Courts handling domestic violence cases will also be able to refer a perpetrator to counselling services to address the roots of their behaviour.

SOURCE: Shane Phelan - Irish Independent

St Stephen's Green Park Dublin - Opened to the Public 27 July 1870

DIY Weddings & Humanist Ceremonies Are All the Rage

Humanist ceremonies, DIY receptions and literally 'tying the knot' are the big trends in Irish marriages, as the high season for weddings approaches.

While CSO statistics note the number of marriages in Ireland remained relatively stable last year, the most striking change was the number of humanist weddings taking place here.

Statistician Caroline Hennessy said humanist ceremonies jumped from 822 in 2014 to 1,294 in 2015.

"Over 1,000 couples got married for the first time in a humanist ceremony in 2015," she told the Irish Independent.

The non-religious ceremonies were first legally recognised in Ireland in 2013.

Prospective brides and grooms are also taking their time before walking down the aisle.

The average age of grooms in 2015 was around 35, while the average age of a bride reached an all-time high of 33.

Some 22,025 marriages were recorded in Ireland in 2015, just 20 less than in 2014.

August remained the most popular month for marriages in 2015, while Fridays and Saturdays were the most popular days of the week.

Around 57pc of those marriages were Roman Catholic ceremonies, staying relatively in line with previous years.

However, the Archdiocese of Dublin saw a fall-off of ceremonies from 2,217 in 2014 to 1,972 in 2015.

Ms Hennessy said figures on the marriage register have remained almost the same since the 19th century. But there have been some adjustments as recently as 2014, with the addition of both same-sex marriages and humanist ceremonies.

"Next year, we will record same-sex marriages with heterosexual marriages," she said, adding that 92 same-sex marriages had been counted in 2015.

Siobhan Walls, a Dublin-based humanist celebrant, has been officiating weddings all over Ireland since 2014.

"I'm booked out from April to September next year," she said. "I have people looking for weddings in 2018 already."

As part of her duties as a celebrant, Siobhan liaises with the couple in planning each detail of the ceremony, and its running order.

"It's non-religious, but each ceremony has elements like readings, music and rituals."

Tasteful

While 'DIY weddings' are rising in popularity, wedding planners remain in demand.

Collette O'Leary of Elegant Engagements says she is already taking bookings for 2020.

While she notes weddings have become more tasteful since the recession, she says DIY wedding trends are on the way out. "I won't miss the craze for vintage bicycles and Dolmio jam jars," she said.

"The one thing I don't want is for the bride to be up all night wrapping ornaments before her wedding, and then being completely exhausted."

However, she believes that years of thrift have toned down the "vulgar spending" once associated with Celtic Tiger-era weddings.

She has noticed an increase in new ceremonial trends, such as unity candles and hand-fasting, a Celtic tradition where the couple's hands are tied together.

Ms O'Leary also pointed out the popularity of "ring-warming", a Russian tradition that has appeared at Irish weddings. "The bride and groom pass around the rings to each group of family and friends, and every guest takes the ring and makes a wish for the couple. It's a really beautiful ritual," she said.

The same-sex marriage referendum has also boosted the wedding industry.

Marian Purcell, who has run the Gay Weddings Ireland website for a number of years, said she was "most definitely" busier after the May 2015 vote.

One huge trend Ms Purcell has seen is an increasing number of same-sex couples travelling to Ireland for their nuptials.

"We have a lot of American couples coming over with about 70 guests," she told the Irish Independent. "These are massive weddings, with all of the family coming as well."

Ms Purcell is set to host a same-sex marriage wedding event at the Crown Plaza in Blanchardstown, Dublin, on August 14.

"We expect about 50 equality vendors, and close to 400 attendees," she said.

SOURCE :  Jane O'Flaherty, Irish Independent

Evelyn Hofer's photographs of Dublin in the 1960's

Below are some photographs of Dublin in the 1960's taken by the German-American photographer Evelyn Hofer.

They appeared in ‘Dublin: A Portrait’ by V. S. Pritchett, a renowned travel writer and short story writer who visited Ireland in the 1960's and met with Sean O'Casey and WB Yeats during which Yeats brandished a tea pot in a rage about Shaw.

For more info on Evelyn Hofer see here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_Hofer

For more info on VS Pritchett:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V._S._Pritchett