Ten years after the party passed a motion onthe matter (proposed by yours truly) at a party conference in Limerick, today the Labour Party have published a Civil Union Bill to be debated in the Dáil during private members time.

I could say about time but really it’s a bit late into the ‘game’ really and not enough. The bill only applies to same sex couples and would guarantee rights in pensions, property, family and other areas. The opportunity to guarantee full equality and not to treat lesbian and gay couples like second class citizens has been lost by the Party.

However this bill is another example of a bump on the road to Mullingar. Unlike Fine Gael’s policy on same-sex citizenship the Labour Party’s bill deals with the issue of adoption. Whether the party spokespeople actually really understand the issues involved in lesbian and gay couples parenting (ie. that it’s much more than ‘stranger’ adoption I don’t know and it will be interesting to see the issue debated further.