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Today Marks Five Years Since S...

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Today Marks Five Years Since Same Sex Marriage Referendum

Laura Donnelly
Laura Donnelly

06:23 22 May 2020


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Today marks 5 years since the same sex marriage referendum in Ireland.

Since the legislation was introduced in 2015 there has been a total of 3, 210 same sex marriages in Ireland.

On the 22nd May 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same sex marriage by popular vote.

It was approved at a referendum by 62% of voters on a turnout of 61%.

A photo in Dublin Castle of a couple kissing under a 'yes' balloon made front pages around the world.

98fm presenter Paul Bonass and his boyfriend Luke are the stars of the iconic photo taken on the day.

He says they weren't expecting to become the symbol of same sex marriage:

"One photo seemed to do the whole rounds.

"Within a half hour, we were getting messages from friends of ours in Sydney saying you're on the news over here. Crazy.

"We're humbled to be part of it and it's changed the lives of so many younger people."

Since the referendum, there have been 3,210 same sex marriages in Ireland.


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