In May of this year every Irish adult will be asked to vote. The main reason behind this voting day will be to decide whether the majority are for or against the same-sex marriage referendum. As the Christmas cheer does not seem so distant in our minds it is difficult to begin to imagine the budding flowers and blue skies of a long lazy May evening, never mind anything that is proposed to take place during the month. But let’s remember that in a few days it will be February and the date for the referendum is set for the first few days of May. In all, that leaves the bones of about three months to decide on how you`ll vote. Plenty of time? Not really, because, this referendum is going to cause quite a stir in our country.Why is it going to cause a stir? Well, for any one that is a young adult and is determined to exercise their hard earned and democratic right to tick the ballot paper it may not seem like much of a fuss. But for anyone older than that they can recall what happened in Ireland in 1995 regarding a similar topic of interest. In 1995 there was a divorce referendum and it caused a lot of division, strong and bitter feelings on both sides of the electorate and many “what ifs” were required to be debated. Looking back, it now seems hard to believe that there was so much consternation. The country was divided in as strong a way as the Saipan/ Roy Keane saga some years later in the FIFA world cup of 2002. However the “ what ifs” seemed more critical on both sides of the electoral divide that Keano`s quibble.Now it’s 2015 and Ireland is set to vote on giving homosexual women and men the option to marry and become publically recognized as being, in every way, as married as any Irish woman and man.On these last few days of January it really is too early to decide on “Yae or Nae”. Many will be certain of their choice of vote, and many will as yet be open to persuasion. It`s far too early to try to pressurise people via mass media on their choice or to begin to persuade friends and family over your side of the argument. But, before the contemplation begins and the pencil is sharpened for that tick or `X` of the box in early May just bear in mind one thing that being , and as the 1995 referendum decided, marriage is temporary but children are for life.
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