Homosexual couples should have the option of marrying, Fine Gael's youth wing decided at the weekend.
Delegates at the Young Fine Gael national conference in Dublin passed a motion calling for the introduction of a "legal marriage" for same-sex partners. Ms Lucinda Creighton (Trinity College) said: "The inequality that exists in this country towards same-sex couples must be challenged. The Government must introduce a civil contract to recognise the inheritance, insurance and taxation rights of same-sex and unmarried couples."
Some of the other motions passed by the delegates reflected the practical concerns of young people. Delegates spoke of the high cost of student accommodation, when supporting a motion, passed by the conference, calling for the abolition of third-level fees for mature and postgraduate students, a tier system for higher education grants, to take account of varying income levels, and the accelerated payments of grants.
The conference heard that rents in Dublin could be anything up to £1,000 a month, "for the basic right to live near your work and studies". Tenants could find the rents doubled overnight, a delegate claimed.
However, a motion calling on the Government to introduce rent control was narrowly defeated. Ms Yvonne Mullen (UCD) warned that it was not possible for any government to do so. "Supply decreases and rents go up. Rent control would also be unconstitutional and the Supreme Court would knock it down." As happened at the Fianna Fail youth conference last December, there were calls for Government action to deal with the rising suicide rate. The conference heard that suicide was now the biggest killer among young males in the 15 to 24 age group, despite the State's prosperity.
Mr Richard Egan (Tullamore, Co Offaly) said: "I think it is fair to say that those who commit suicide do not want to die. They simply do not want to go on living. Young Fine Gael acted on this before when it passed a motion in 1991 proposing that suicide be decriminalised. This was taken on board and signed into law in 1993. Ireland was one of the last countries in the western world to decriminalise suicide." Delegates called on the GAA to drop Rule 21, banning members of the security forces in the North from membership of the association. Mr Ciaran Cullen (DCU) said that in the light of recent developments it was outrageous that members of the RUC were not allowed to play Gaelic football.
"The implementation of the Patten report should ensure that the police force will be acceptable to all in the North. There is no logic in maintaining this rule when people in the North are working to ensure that the RUC is itself more representative of the community."
The conference also passed a motion critical of the Government's policy on asylum-seekers and immigrants, and called for an amnesty for those who sought asylum before January last year and citizenship rights for all non-nationals after five years.
