Madam, - With Valentine's Day approaching, one wonders whether the Government might be imbued with its romantic spirit and reconsider the current legislative proposals regarding marriage between Irish citizens and citizens from outside the European Economic Area.
According to the Immigration and Residency Bill, two such people who wish to marry must give three months' notice of their intention to the Minister for Justice. If this does not happen, the marriage will be invalid in law.
If the Government is not to be swayed by the notion that marriage should be a union decided on by two consenting adults, not three, it might perhaps bear in mind the slightly more mundane obligations imposed by the UN Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As a party to this, Ireland has agreed to prohibit and eliminate racial discrimination in all its forms, including in the enjoyment of the right to marriage and choice of spouse.
Removing the marriage-related provisions from the Bill would be a step towards fulfilling our obligations under this convention, and, more generally, towards respecting citizens' individual and free choice as to whom they marry. - Yours, etc,
DERVLA KING, Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin 7.