There was no gay marriage in Ireland before RTE

We thought this might happen: Andrew Sullivan gives a tip of the hat to Bertie Ahern's seeming endorsement of gay marriage in the Republic:

"Sexual orientation cannot, and must not, be the basis of a second-class citizenship," - Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern, yesterday.

Ireland will soon legislate civil partnership rights for gay couples, the legal equivalent of marriage in the UK. What's fascinating to me is how two of the most historically Catholic countries in Western Europe, Spain and Ireland, are now in the forefront of recognizing gay civil equality. Italy and France are, however, less evolved. Perhaps the link between Spain and Ireland is that both countries endured many decades of Church-State collusion, allowing the Church to enjoy astonishing civil powers. The sex abuse scandal helped the collapse of the Church hierarchy's moral authority in both countries. But it's politicization that wounded both Spanish and Irish churches in the long run. There's a lesson there for America's Christianists. There is a price for conflating religion and politics. Eventually, it will come back to haunt you.

Sort of right. Bertie has avoided playing the moral values card, not least reflected in his own unorthodox marital arrangements and he did show up at the official opening of new offices for the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, at which the above remarks were made. But actual legislation is still some way off, and might be a forced response to a legal challenge for recognition of a legal gay marriage from another EU state [Irish Times, subs. req'd]:

The Taoiseach said legislating for civil partnerships was "complex and challenging" and would need to be consistent with the Constitution ... Minister for Justice Michael McDowell had established a working group on domestic partnership chaired by Anne Colley, which includes Government officials and members of Glen, and was due to report by October this year, Mr Ahern said.

It will provide an analysis of categories of partnerships and relationships outside marriage to which legal effect and recognition may be given. As well as this, it will identify options over the extent to which legal recognition may be given to alternative forms of partnership, including those entered into outside the State.

Indeed, one possibility is a legal challenge based on a civil partnership obtained in Northern Ireland. It's also fair to hypothesize that the Church has suffered a backlash from its outsized influence in the past, although cultural factors were eroding its credibility even before the full extent of the child abuse scandal was known; witness the scathing irreverence of Father Ted. The "pro-life" amendment to the Constitution, backed by the Church but ending up opening the door for abortion, has probably made the hierarchy leery of political entanglements anyway.