Madam, - Gobnait Ó Grádaigh (June 8th) makes a serious mistake by conflating the two very distinct issues of "homosexual marriage" and gay adoption. The former does not in any way imply or entail the latter and, indeed, for many homosexual men and women adoption is not a matter of pressing concern at all.
Further to the report by the French commission that she mentions, Ms Ó Grádaigh's presumption that these two issues go hand in hand is pernicious insofar as it implies, however subtly, that opening the door to State-recognised unions between two persons of the same sex would in some way harm, infringe or undermine "children's rights" - a ludicrous suggestion.
A loving union between two people, wherein each can securely provide for the other, through life and in death, is something which most people wish for in their private lives. And the key point here is that such unions are private - not matters for public consumption, and certainly not something which should be subject to public approval.
The fact that homosexual men and women do not yet have this right in Ireland is deeply regrettable, but it is, I hope, a situation which will be rectified with appropriate legislation in the near future.
Adoption by gay men and women, because it involves a third party and hence an entirely different set of considerations, is a wholly separate issue. We must not lose sight of this distinction.
- Yours, etc,
OWEN CORRIGAN, Trinity College, Dublin 2.