Ireland legalizes same-sex marriage

Eire we go, at last! The BBC reports that the Republic of Ireland will now permit same-sex couples to wed.

It is not yet known when and where the first same-sex wedding will be held.

But the first people to be affected are same-sex couples who have already wed legally abroad. Their marriages are now automatically recognised by the state.

They include Orla Howard and her wife Dr Grainne Courtney, who were married in the United States in May 2013.

The new rules follow a referendum in May in which Irish voters overwhelmingly supported the change.

Ireland was late to the gay rights party, only decriminalizing homosexual acts in 1993. But now it is the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote.

This leaves Northern Ireland as the last holdout in the Atlantic Archipelagos1; though about 70% of locals support same-sex marriage, conservative protestants in government have apparently used procedural measures to prevent the law being voted upon.

1. Various wee UK tax shelters have yet to permit same-sex weddings, but all have signaled their legislative commitment to marriage equality.