This In Focus note examines the same-sex marriage referendum held in Ireland on 22 May 2015.
Referendum on Same-Sex Marriage in Ireland (99 KB , PDF)
On 22 May 2015, Ireland held a referendum on same-sex marriage. The referendum questioned whether the electorate would agree to adding the clause, “marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex”, to Article 41 of the Irish Constitution. Results revealed that 62.07 percent of those who participated in the referendum voted in favour of same-sex marriage, making Ireland the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote.
Following the results, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald TD, announced legislative plans to be introduced into the Houses of the Oirechtas by June 2015.
Referendum on Same-Sex Marriage in Ireland (99 KB , PDF)
The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill is a private member’s bill that has government support. The purpose of the bill is to amend the Equality Act 2010 to make employers liable for harassment of their employees by third parties (such as customers or clients) and to introduce a specific duty on employers to take all reasonable steps to prevent the sexual harassment of their employees.
Before an employer can make an employee on maternity, adoption or shared parental leave redundant, redundancy protection regulations require an employer to give that employee first refusal on a suitable alternative vacancy where one exists. The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) Bill would give the secretary of state powers to introduce regulations that would enable redundancy protections to apply from the point an employee told their employer that they were pregnant, and six months after returning from maternity, adoption or shared parental leave.
The government published both its integrated review of foreign, defence, security and international development policy and a defence command paper in March 2021. Alongside a list of new capabilities set to be introduced and existing equipment due to be retired, the second document set a target of reducing the size of the regular army. The government maintains that capabilities, rather than troop numbers, are of primary importance in confronting the defence and security challenges facing the UK.
