IRELAND
BBC News
Former Irish President Mary McAleese has said she supports gay marriage.
In an interview with Irish state broadcaster RTE, Mrs McAleese said that she had “no problem with it at all”.
“I’m just thrilled anyone wants to get married,” she said, describing marriage as a “great grace”.
Mrs McAleese said many gay people had endured “interminable loneliness” and praised campaigners who had emphasised that gay people were as entitled as heterosexuals to live on their terms.
Mrs McAleese also described her reaction to the accusation by Cardinal Bernard Law, who was archbishop of Boston at the time, that she had been “a very poor Catholic president”.
She said that she had told the cardinal: “I am not a Catholic president, I’m president of Ireland” where “there were all sorts of people. I’m their president. I happen to be Catholic”.
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