The Pillar Room in the Rotunda hospital was packed, with a strong trade union presence, including the newly appointed general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) Patricia King and  Seamus Dooley, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), who chairs the Trade Unionists for Civil Marriage Equality campaign.

Politicians and a wide variety of civil society organisations also attended, and the launch was chaired by former RTÉ journalist Charlie Bird.

Chairwoman of Marriage Equality, Grainne Healy gained a standing ovation for her speech in which she said that “The referendum gives Irish people the chance to secure true equality for lesbian and gay people, who are our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters. We are the family values campaign. We value love, commitment and family security.”

Joe O’Connor, organiser with IMPACT, attended the launch and was impressed by the positive energy and enthusiasm at the event. He said “This is an amazing opportunity for people to get involved in a campaign that would bring joy and happiness to people’s lives if there’s a positive result. I urge members to become actively involved where they can, be it fundraising, campaigning or simply wearing the badge.”

Readers' Poll

We’re asking readers of the IMPACT ebulletin how they intend to vote in the marriage equality referendum on Friday 22nd May. IMPACT is supporting the campaign for a ‘YES’ vote in the referendum, following a motion to IMPACT’s biennial delegate conference last year from the Sligo branch.

Taking part in the poll is anonymous and is hosted via the Survey Monkey website. You can take part in the poll HERE.