Wider choice of wedding venues delayed until late next year

Couples hoping to say "I do" at a location of their choosing will have to wait until late next year for new, more liberal marriage laws to come into force.

The regulations, which will allow marriage ceremonies to take in venues other than churches or registry offices for the first time, will not be implemented until autumn 2006 at the earliest.

The delay, now approaching two years, is revealed in an update by the General Register Office, which has admitted that it has "considerable work" to do to implement the Civil Registration Act passed by the Oireachtas in February 2004. The office originally promised to implement the changes in January or February this year.

A spokesman for the office explained its staff of about 60 had recently decentralised to Roscommon, a move which involved "considerable work" to transfer skills to the new location.

The decentralisation was planned in the early 1990s and is separate from the Government's general plans to move departments out of Dublin. The process of computerising the civil registration of births, deaths and marriages has also been delayed.

The office says it has established a marriages working group to implement the new procedures, under which register solemnisers, nominated by churches and religious authorities, will be drawn up to officiate at marriage ceremonies.

The spokesman said it was unable to give a specific date for implementation but it was "unlikely" to be before autumn next year. "We intend to give as much notice as possible, recognising the fact that people make arrangements for their marriages well in advance of the event. We would also like to assure the public that a comprehensive public information campaign will be undertaken at the appropriate time." Under the current system, marriage can only take place in the main churches or, for civil ceremonies, a registry office in each county.

Under changes provided for in the Act, couples will be allowed tie the knot at a venue of their choosing, subject to certain conditions. The location must be public and the venue must comply with fire and safety rules. County registrars will be allowed solemnise a marriage in any approved venue.