This article is from page 6 of the 2006-10-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 6 JPG
CLARE Green Party candidate for next year’s general election, Brian Meaney, looks likely to garner votes from an unexpected source following a Green Party policy document calling for legislative change to allow for same-sex marriages and legal rights for couples who live together.
While a spokesperson for the county’s leading gay organisation, Gay Clare, stopped short of an outright endorsement of Meaney, he did comment that the Green Party’s announcement would influence gay voters in Clare.
“The Gay Clare group would welcome the Green Party’s release on civil unions,” said a spokesperson.
“We hope that if the Green Party do form part of the next government that this will be included in the programme for government and that it won’t just be used for election purposes.”
With an estimated 3,000 gay men living in the county, the gay vote could be very influential in the outcome of next year’s election. In the 2002 election, Pat Breen was elected with just 4,541 first preference while Meaney himself polled almost 3,000 first preference votes.
“I am not indifferent to the need to introduce legislation in relation to same-sex couples, but it also has to reflect the majority opinion,” commented Cllr Meaney. “We do live in a democracy but, at the same time, that does not mean that the rights of minorities can be trampled on.”