Madam, – I am writing in relation to the article (“March for lifting of ban on same-sex marriages told new Bill is inadequate”, August 10th) by Tim O’Brien.
My partner Shani and I are the couple referred to in that article, which we believe misrepresents the intention behind our speech, our feelings regarding our treatment by the Department of Justice and our understanding of the immigration laws in Ireland.
Mr O’Brien is correct in saying that we were required to validate our relationship to the Department of Justice by presenting a personal letter.
However, the statement "The women said they felt the process was unequal in that heterosexual couples did not generally have to go through such a process" is inaccurate. At no point did we claim that we were being treated differently to our heterosexual counterparts or that any part of the de factoprocess was biased against gay couples. Our speech specifically stated, "In the eyes of the Department of Justice, my sexual orientation is not a stumbling block to granting me and my partner identical rights to those offered to heterosexual couples". Rather than criticising the Department of Justice, we were giving due praise for the unbiased treatment we received during the de factoprocess.
Mr O’Brien stated: “Pointing to the Department of Justice, Mia said she had been told by people ‘in there’ to write the letters”. What I was actually saying at that time was that “in the eyes of the Department of Justice, it would be considered an infringement of my rights as an Irish citizen to deny my partner the right to stay in the country.” This was praise, not a criticism.
We do understand that marriage does not automatically guarantee residency, but it serves as a highly persuasive argument for the validity of a relationship and allowing one's partner to remain in the country. This would have been our preferred option over going through the unpleasant " de facto" process.
However, my essential point was that if my relationship is valid enough to grant de factostatus, why is it not valid enough to qualify for marriage? – Yours, etc,