The country's Catholic bishops have called on the Government to allow a free vote for all TDs and Senators on the Civil Partnership Bill which, they say, is unconstitutional. In a statement issued following their summer meeting in Maynooth, they say seeking to give same-sex relationships a standing as similar as possible to marriage breaches the constitutional duty to 'guard with special care the institution of marriage, on which the family is founded.'
They also appeal to Oireachtas members to consider in conscience this and other arguments put forward by the hierarchy against as the Bill, which has passed Committee Stage in the Dáil.
SIC: RTÉ