Ireland to hold referendum on same sex marriage in 2015

Ireland on Tuesday announced that it would hold a referendum on same-sex marriage during the first half of 2015. "The government today considered the Third Report of the Convention on the Constitution, amending the Constitution to provide for same-sex marriage and agreed to the holding of a referendum during the first half of 2015," said a government statement. Ireland's Justice Minister Alan Shatter said his department will be engaged over the next 12 months with the attorney general on "the framing of the specific amendment to the Constitution," and on "the drafting of the Bill required for the referendum on this important matter." "I will shortly report to the Dail (lower house of parliament) on the government's positive response to the Constitutional Convention's Third Report," Shatter said. Ireland has witnessed growing discussions on the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. According to a poll in late 2012 by Millward Brown Lansdowne for Marriage Equality, 75 percent of people would vote yes in a referendum to extend civil marriage to same-sex couples. In 2008, 63 percent of respondents said they would vote yes.