CRI听力:Ireland Holds Referendum on Same-sex Marriage

The debate on whether to allow same-sex marriage has divided public opinion in Ireland. At the moment, the country's constitution does not define marriage as being between a man and a woman, but uncertainty remains on the legitimacy of gay marriage.

Yes campaigners like Brendan O'Carroll are trying to change the status quo.

"When I was a young girl, there was a big hoo-ha about mix-marriages, you know Catholics marrying Protestants, black people marrying white people, but you know what? They still went and got married. And the world didn't end. No. And we all grew up a little bit. And you know, we all need to grow up a little bit now. Marriage isn't easy, changing the law isn't easy and changing attitude is even harder. But we can do it, we've done it before."

On the other side, people from the No camps are saying a Yes vote would encroach on religious beliefs and have a negative effect on children.

"There is more here to this proposal than simply equality. Will we be allowed to speak about marriage being between a relationship between a man and a woman? What can we teach at schools in the future? Will people be able to voice their conscience and their genuine belief that marriage is between a man and a woman?"

A number of opinion polls indicate that the vote will be in favor of same-sex marriage, with about 60% voters saying Yes.

In Ireland, where more than 80 percent of the population is Catholic, homosexuality was only decriminalized in 1993. But Dr Oran Doyle, an expert on equality law at Trinity College Dublin says there has been a swift change of opinion in the last 20 years or so.

"I think the referendum will really accelerate a trend towards a greater acceptance of gay people, particularly in rural areas of the country where that might be not so strong at present."

According to Dr Doyle, a 'yes' vote will see the first same-sex couple getting married in a few months time.

"What is more likely to happen then is that people will just get used to the change. In Ireland in 1995 we had a referendum to allow people to divorce, divorce used to be prohibited in the constitution, and it passed by a very narrow margin less than one percent. And then within five to ten years, everybody just accepted what had happened. So I think if the voted has carried, it will be same this time, people will get use to the idea."

According to the Irish Times, more than 3 million people have registered to vote in Friday's referendum.

For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian in London.