The rainbow coalition!
Senator Jerry Buttimer marries partner in front of FG grandees
FINE Gael has been involved in some tense partnerships but yesterday one of the party’s most popular members signed up for a happy coalition of the rainbow variety.
Cork senator Jerry Buttimer married his partner Conchobar Ó Laoghaire in front of beaming party colleagues including the Taoiseach and his predecessor Enda Kenny.
And the ceremony at Triskel Arts Centre included wedding bands with rainbow ribbons ‘used to symbolise the rainbow flag’.
It was what guests, including former taoiseach Mr Kenny, described as an ‘historic day’.
The 50-year-old senator, who was Fine Gael’s only openly gay TD before Mr Varadkar came out as a gay man, was one of the leading lights during the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015.
The Corkman who lost his Cork South Central seat in the 2016 general election before joining the Seanad, announced his engagement last July.
He and his husband were joined by guests, including Tánaiste Simon Coveney, former taoiseach Mr Kenny, former tánaiste Frances Fitzgerald, Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy, broadcaster Vincent Browne and cancer expert Professor John Crown.
Also at the wedding were Mary Mitchell O’Connor and former health minister Dr James Reilly.
Senator Buttimer is one of the first gay TDs to get married.
Dominic Hannigan, then a Labour TD, got married in the UK in 2014.
Minister for Children Katherine Zappone had to leave Ireland to marry her partner Ann Louise Gilligan 14 years ago.
The couple remarried in January 2016 after same-sex marriages legislation came into force.
Neither Mr Varadkar, who was there with his partner Dr Matthew Barrett, or Deputy Fitzgerald spoke to reporters.
But Mr Kenny, in attendance with his wife Fionnuala Kenny, said afterwards: ‘It was a wonderful ceremony in a beautiful building and a great location and I’m very happy for Jerry and Conchobar.
‘I have known them for years. It is a historic day for Ireland.
‘It is all an example of the joy and the excitement that comes from the people having made the decision in respect of equality of marriage. And I’m very happy to have been a part of that and I wish them every good fortune and happiness during their lives together.’
Asked if he was enjoying his retirement, Mr Kenny replied: ‘Of course I am. All life is about change, isn’t it? And I am very happy to see the Government is moving on with the foundations that we put in place.’
Tánaiste Mr Coveney said later: ‘It was a fantastic day for the couple... two very happy people but also a lot of friends and a lot of colleagues are very happy as well for them. This simply wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago, so that makes it even more special. I think for friends and family, it was a great service. I don’t think I have ever seen Jerry as happy. It was fun but there was a serious side to it as well.’
After the welcome and introduction, there was the lighting of three candles.
Two of them were for the couple and the third was ‘lit in memorial of absent family members especially Nancy – mother of Jerry – and friends’.
After the first reading, they exchanged – in English – the first of two vows.
After the third reading, they exchanged their second vows, which were in Irish.
A band fastening ceremony followed ‘as a symbol of their love’.
The hand binders include Senator Buttimer’s father, Jerry Sr.
Included in the bands were the rainbow ribbons. The registrar Catherine Noonan said that ‘like the rainbow, this flag is a symbol of hope and peace’.
‘I’ve never seen Jerry as happy’
THE most striking thing about the release of the latest batch of State papers under the 30-year rule is just how many of them relate to Northern Ireland – and to the IRA in particular. They contain some lurid claims about prominent nationalist politicians. While we always must remember every aspect of the Troubles, and every brutal killing during that dreadful time on this island, this also serves as a very stark reminder of just how far we have come.
We soon will mark the 20th anniversary of the historic Good Friday Agreement and the peace that has lasted since. That is a cause for celebration for anyone who remembers the ugly climate of fear and mistrust in both communities. Who knows how many hundreds more lives would have been lost without it?
We must, however, celebrate with caution. Despite the agreement on the border earlier this month, Brexit is still a halfformed entity, and there are many potential landmines on the path forward. Any significant dilution of the terms agreed has the potential to lead us into uncharted territory. As we saw in a poll conducted by this newspaper, a majority in this jurisdiction now support a united Ireland, no matter how much it might cost – and there are others who might cynically exploit vacillation on the British side and restart the violence that we hoped and prayed was consigned to the dark and bitter past.
Many have cheered the Taoiseach and the Government – and, indeed, the Opposition parties as well – for their robust defence of the right of the people of this island to continue to trade and socialise without a hard border, but this is not a time to feel smug.
Many of our industries depend on trade with Britain and it is in no one’s interest to drive a wedge between our two countries. Dublin and London still have a co-dependence and, like all such relationships, it is better conducted in a spirit of friendship, rather than antagonistic superiority.
It took generations after independence, and the cessation of violence, for cordiality to become the hallmark of Anglo-Irish relations. The State papers show how much effort went into that. There are many lessons we can learn from the past; preeminent among them is that being good neighbours is best for everyone.