Madam, - How magnanimous of Susan Philips (December 20th) to consent to "satisfactory" protection in law, relating to a union with my male partner.
However, grateful and all as I am, I think if she flicks back a page or two in the 1937 Constitution the first line of Article 40 reads: "All citizens shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law." There is no addendum that says or implies that some may benefit from lesser, but "satisfactory" rights.
This issue is not about hijacking the word "marriage". It's about absolute equality for all citizens of the State. - Yours, etc,
DAVID WILKINS, Kilmantain Park, Bray, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - Susan Philips asserts that the authors of Bunreacht na hÉireann did not have same-sex couples in mind when penning the phrase "to guard with special care the institution of marriage". This may in fact be true, but is entirely beside the point.
The Constitution is a living document and must therefore adapt to reflect the changes experienced in Irish society over the past 70 years.
It would be wrong to hold sacred the ill-informed and clumsy phrasing of de Valera et al and to allow it to have a negative bearing on the human rights of today's citizens.
If this week's revelations have taught us nothing else, it is that the Irish political giants of yesteryear were far from infallible.- Yours, etc,
MICHAEL KELLY, Victoria Street, Portobello, Dublin 8.
Madam, - I heard to with regret and great disappointment of the outcome of the action taken by Drs Gilligan and Zappone. The decision appears to put convenience and non-interference above the affirmation of our human rights as Irish citizens and gay and lesbian people.
I always believed that the Irish Constitution and the European Convention on Human rights were instruments for our protection and that of other minorities; however, it appears that true equality and recognition of our place in society still lies beyond our reach.
Many people have said this has nothing to do with rights. But it is no coincidence that Spain and South Africa, the latest countries to introduce gender-neutral marriage, have suffered a long and very recent history of human rights abuse.
I hope that Ireland will come to understand the vital importance of equality as these countries have done. - Yours, etc,
DAVID GARRAHY, Ballymun Road, Dublin 9.