Love was in the air but not all around

Love was all around Judge Elizabeth Dunne's High Court yesterday. A senior counsel spent the entire five hours on his feet, arguing that marriage is more than a tax-planning exercise and that to marry the one we love is a right the vast majority of us take for granted.

Furthermore, Michael Collins wasn't charging a penny for it. Lawyers for Dr Katherine Zappone and Dr Ann Louise Gilligan are giving their services pro bono for a case expected to take three weeks, though some feel it could last till Christmas. Greater love than this no man hath around the Law Library.

Certain Bridezillas may take umbrage at Mr Collins's statement that a "white dress on a bride cannot be regarded as a definitive . . . factor" in how the court might determine the essence of marriage, but there it is. The truth hurts.

The aura of goodwill almost dazzled journalists - more accustomed to snarls from the usual denizens of the courts - who arrived late for pre-court pictures and interviews. Not only were they greeted by a helpful supporter with a well-drafted press release, but the two plaintiffs, radiating confidence and competence, cheerfully re-emerged, thanked their family, supporters and solicitors, and mentioned that on September 13th they had celebrated their third wedding anniversary and the 25th year of their "life partnership together".

"We are married, we are happily married and living in a lifelong, monogamous partnership . . . We feel that we are standing in the midst of an enormous groundswell of positive social change, and it is that that we will bring with us when we enter the court."

Senator David Norris, lawyer Michael Farrell and Dr Ailbhe Smyth, head of women's studies at UCD and chair of the National Lesbian and Gay Federation, added ballast. "These are persons of substance and merit and they are being discriminated against," said Senator Norris.

Inside the courtroom, where an early flurry of media later dwindled to a handful, Dr Zappone took a seat facing her counsel, the better to hear him as he eschewed the microphones. Both she and Dr Gilligan took copious notes as Mr Collins pointed out that while these women were denied the right to marry each other, all sorts of reprobates - including convicted child abusers and those who defaulted on child maintenance - could marry whomever they liked. "What is the compelling interest the State has to prevent these two people marrying?" he asked.

At lunchtime, some 40 supporters (including Greens and Labour Party members) took to the street outside the Dáil armed with flowers, banners and T-shirts with the slogan "L is for Love - for the Love of Equality". But hovering politicians seemed to have their minds elsewhere. Love wasn't all around after all.