It's a big day in Ireland. The new civil partnership law officially takes effect today:
Barry Dignam and Hugh Walsh will make history today as Ireland’s first official gay wedding couple – and they couldn’t be happier.Very exciting and this one is personal. My grandparents were born in Ireland and I've got a lot of family in the country. Yes, it's a very Catholic country, but equality matters more. It's really just amazing that I could have more rights in Ireland than in the U.S.
Dignam and Walsh, together for the past 17 years, will become the public face of civil partnership in Ireland as the first couple not to require an exemption to celebrate a gay marriage.
New legislation which came into effect on January 1st allows the pair to be married at a Dublin registry office without the need for a court granted exemption to the usual three months notice which couples must give to the General Registrar office.
