The road travelled to date. . .
The question of official recognition for gay relationships is at the centre of an Oireachtas committee inquiry. Regulating for gay marriage or giving some form of legal recognition to long-term gay relationships is the most important current issue for may gay people . . . and can also arouse strong feelings among heterosexual. Last week, Canada became the fourth country in the world after Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain to permit same sex marriages. It's been a long road . . . Here's a look at the legal history of same-sex couples going back a few years.
1989
June - Denmark passed a law allowing homosexuals to enter a registered partnership, giving them the same housing, pension and immigration rights as married, heterosexual couples.
1993
August - Norway became the second country to allow gays and lesbians to have registered partnerships, giving them rights almost equal to those of married couples.
1994
June - Sweden's parliament approved a law allowing same-sex marriage. Under the law, gay couples are able to wed in a ceremony similar to a civil marriage, but partners cannot adopt children.
1995
March - Hungary's constitutional court struck down a law barring homosexuals from common-law marriage.
1999
October - France granted all couples the right to form civil unions.
2000
December - The Netherlands gave final approval to laws allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. Dutch law had recognised registered partnerships since 1998.
2002
July - Germany allowed gay couples to register their partnerships with local civil authorities.
June - Belgium allows marriages between same-sex couples.
2003
June - Britain unveiled the possibility of letting couples make a formal, legal commitment to each other by registering their relationship as a "civil partnership".
July - Two Argentinians became the first gay couple in Latin America to use a new law legalising same-sex civil unions.
2004
February - San Francisco's mayor Gavin Newsom defied state law and lifted a ban on gay marriages. In 2000, Vermont became the first US state to allow gay civil unions.
March - California's supreme court ordered San Francisco to halt same-sex marriages.
President Bush called on the US Congress to back a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriages. He left the door open to states to provide homosexual civil unions.
May 17th - First gay couples were legally married in Massachusetts, which became the only US state to allow same-sex marriage.
June 10th - A New York state court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage.
July 14th - A divided US Senate rejected a bid to amend the constitution to ban same-sex marriage.
July 27th - A French court annulled France's first gay marriage, which took place on June 5th, setting a legal precedent.
August 12th - California's supreme court annulled more than 4,000 gay marriages in San Francisco.
2005
April 5th - Kansas voters approved an amendment to the state constitution that bars same-sex couples from marrying, making it the 18th in the nation to take such a stance.
April 20th - Connecticut became the first US state to legalise civil unions for gay couples.
June 2nd - After a third and final vote, California's Assembly killed a bill that would have allowed gay marriage in the nation's most populous state.
June 30th - Spain's parliament gave final approval to a law legalising gay marriage, overriding its rejection by the upper house and fierce opposition from the Catholic Church.
July 20th - A law allowing gay marriages across Canada comes into force after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the legislation although a number of Canadian provinces have been allowing same-sex marriages for some time. - (Reuters)