Cathal BarryFianna Fáil has urged the Government to take a more “tolerant” approach to Catholic marriage counselling if the referendum on same-sex marriage passes.
Party leader Micheál Martin told The Irish Catholic there “will always be different organisations coming to a particular issue from a particular ethos or a particular tradition”.
“We are in a tolerant and pluralist society in that regard and that has to be respected,” he said.
Mr Martin’s intervention comes after Fine Gael last week refused to give assurances that Catholic marriage counselling would not have funding withdrawn if the referendum on same-sex marriage passes.
Currently, Accord, a Church-run marriage preparation and counselling agency, receives funds from the State through the Family Support Agency and Health Service Executive.
However, concerns have been raised in the organisation that if the referendum is passed, Accord would be forced to accept the State’s redefinition of marriage or else have funding withdrawn.
It is understood that Accord would not accept such a redefinition.
Speaking to this newspaper at the launch of Fianna Fáil’s ‘yes’ campaign, Mr Martin said, if the referendum on same-sex marriage passes, he would expect citizens to “respect and fully implement the law”.
However, he noted that “across a whole range of counselling it’s fair to say that different organisations come with different ethos and different traditions and bring that to the table”.
Questions
Responding to questions on whether Fianna Fáil believes organisations such as Accord should be allowed keep their State funding while upholding their ethos, Mr Martin said that he would have “a more tolerant view overall” but “would look at it on a case-by-case basis”.
Bishop Denis Nulty last year appealed to the Government to refrain from further grant cuts to Accord.
The bishop said that for the “wellbeing of society”, it was essential that Accord and the State work with each other to “provide the necessary supports to strengthen marriage and the family”.
In 2013, Accord’s 57 centres nationwide provided 50,959 counselling hours; counselling 9,867 clients, 727 marriage preparation courses for 7,631 couples and 32,039 children participated in its schools programme.