Hi there CRAIG MINNS...

Of course your absolutely right ! There are countless number of straight marriages that end in unmitigated disaster, including homicide. Furthermore there are many homosexual relationships that are proven sustainable.

However, you'd have to agree, a homosexual marriage, with all that entails, including the protections and responsibilities that occur, pursuant to the relevant Family Law ACT, doesn't necessarily guarantee a successful Marriage, either for Gay or straight people ?

Craig, the real problems generally emerge when that union or 'marriage' suffers a breakdown. That is where the judiciary who preside over the workings of the Family Court are going to strike their first, intractable problems ? Then there's a matter of enforcement ? Deciding the various merits, of claims, lodged by two former (male) marriage partners, is where the difficulties will arise. Now, because most unions, though some long term, generally don't rely on the strength of statute for enforcement, the financial aspects don't generally arise ?

I don't know Craig, perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree, I hope so ! There's enough trouble, acrimony, human dislocation and emotional hurt now, without a legislated Marriage of Gay people, adding exponentially to it ?

The average cost of a referendum in Ireland is between 17 and 22 million euros.

Yet 6 Irish families per week are being made homeless and nearly 2-thirds of all Irish mortgages are in negative equity. Youth unemployment is 21% and (official) total unemployment is at least 11%. Ireland also has the world's highest level of household debt (runner up: Australia), due almost entirely to the now deflated property boom.

The Irish are still being held to ransom to pay off the 80 billion euro debt racked up by its banksters with full government knowledge - with interest, the debt has now blown out to well into the hundreds of millions. Yet only two bankers have ever been charged (despite several others leaving their posts with 7-8 figure golden handshakes) - and all they got was community service.

One has to ask why Ireland needed to hold such an expensive referendum over two issues (the other being whether to lower the age for presidential candidates from 35 to 21) that are either at best symbolic and at worst empty of any purpose other than a feel-good factor of being the first country in the world to legally recognise same-sex marriage.

Despite the nice outcome, the whole thing was just one giant distraction. The Irish people can feel good about themselves for once - so they don't have to think about how they were so spectacularly screwed over by those whose job it was to protect them.

o sung wu you are "barking up the wrong tree" in thinking we don't already have these court cases through de facto recognition. Marriage might change the legal process and the court but we will not be presenting any new problems that aren't already heard in far greater frequency than our population. But marriage will more clearly identify our relationships. LGBTI parents are already there with other parents anyway. Why would two men divorcing lead to any specific problem? Intractable? (I'm an expert of 3 'divorces') It is stigmatised thinking that produces an exaggerated unrealistic picture of the effects of equality.

"There's enough trouble, acrimony, human dislocation and emotional hurt now, without a legislated Marriage of Gay people, adding exponentially to it ? "
I think you are the one doing the exponential adding and have not though of our hurt.

Hi there ERIC G...

I've not seen you previously on the FORUM ? Welcome.

Obviously you're of the opinion police are apathetic or indifferent to complaints of violence occasioned against Gays ? I guess I can't deny it, after all your commentary must be accurate, otherwise you wouldn't engage in such a verbal fusillade against me and my former vocation ?

You criticism appeared all encompassing in it's analysis ? Your allegation(s) of police apathy is erroneous - Anytime I received a job, vide direction or radio, involving violence, irrespective of who was involved, I immediately responded, depending on the prefix (immediacy) code.

Thereat, my primary duty was to bring the violence to a cessation (if possible). Establish injury status, determine the various perpetrators, if necessary arrest them, transport to station, place them in cellular accommodation, type-up 'short facts', process each offender, and no ERIC G. there's no truth in the rumour we'd give each of em' a good 'tickle-up' with the KB26K ? Each cell contained closed circuit TV coverage (part of the suicide prevention programme for our indigenous clients)

That's about it. Quite seriously, neither me nor anyone in my squad, knowingly discriminated in anyway, whenever dealing with an obviously Gay man or lesbian women. To put it mildly ERIC G., we often didn't have the time to delineate between straight, or gay men or women anyway !

Occasionally, we'd have a request for a change of cell, either because the other occupants we're troubling a gay man, or vice versa, a group of gay's were 'putting the wood' on a straight bloke, and he wanted out !

Just a piece of advice my friend. No doubt some police don't accept homosexuality. It doesn't necessarily follow they'd risk their careers, together with their good name and character, simply because of some deep seated dislike for gays ? Personally, I've done enough years in the job to have seen most things. And that's precisely where I leave it. OK ?

Like the Roman empire, the West is fast heading for extinction.

I don't care what gays and lesbians do, but when we start indulging those who want to be 'married' and enshrining such nonsense in law, it's all over red rover. The mores and traditions of the West are what has made us the best. But, when the time comes, and it will, for a referendum here, it will pass with flying colours, thanks tothe complete lack of morality and common sense of the wacko majority of hedonistic Australians in the younger generations.

Hi snake, in reading the second paragraph of your expansive post, I was taken by your description of "evil"? And thought, what an apt if wordy description of perverted pedophile priests!

Hi Killarney; as usual you have found all the negatives in the article; and indeed, the long overdue outcome!

It must be difficult to live a normal healthy life, with so much unrequited hate coursing through your veins?
Rhrosty.