NI marriage laws to be changed to fully recognise humanist weddings

Finance Minister Conor Murphy signalled his intention to reform the laws around marriage in Northern Ireland following a public consultation.

The change would also see the minimum age for marriage raised to 18.

Currently, people aged 16 and 17 can get married with parental consent.

Three of the largest Churches in Northern Ireland — the Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and Catholic Churches — took part in the consultation but made no formal objection to the change in status for non-religious marriage.

The proposed law change follows a court battle by the model and public speaker Laura Lacole to have her humanist marriage to the former Bournemouth and Leeds United footballer Eunan O’Kane, who is from Co Londonderry, recognised on the same footing as a religious marriage.

High Court and Court of Appeal rulings in 2017 put an onus on the government to recognise humanist and religious marriages equally.

While temporary arrangements are now in place, meaning humanist and religious weddings do enjoy a similar status already, the Mr Murphy said a law change is required to achieve the “full equality signalled by the courts”.

In a written statement, the Minister said there was “little opposition” to the proposed change.

“None of the three churches that responded, for example, raised any objection,” he said. “While naturally noting their own preference for religious marriage, all agreed with the proposal on equality grounds.”

Announcing his intention, Mr Murphy added: “A clear majority supported the proposal to put belief marriage on an equal footing with religious marriage.”

A Church of Ireland body told the News Letter, meanwhile, that it has to “realistic” in accepting a new category of non-religious belief marriage in Northern Ireland.

The Methodist Church in Ireland and Evangelical Alliance declined to offer any comment on the issue.

The Presbyterian Church in Ireland and Catholic Church were also invited to comment but had not done so at the time of going to press.

Mr Murphy’s intention to change the laws, meanwhile, was welcomed by the Alliance MLA Kellie Armstrong.

“I am delighted these impending changes have been announced, particularly to ensure non-religious marriages are treated equally in law to faith marriages,” the Strangford MLA said.