This is a list of laws, court cases and reports on LGBTQ rights in Ireland.
An act for the punishment of the vice of buggery 1634.
This was an act of the Irish Parliament which copied the Buggery Act 1534 as passed by the English parliament. This act made the death penalty the punishment upon conviction. The act did not define what buggery meant but it was widely understood to mean male to male penetrative sexual acts as well as sexual acts with animals.
Offences Against the Person (Ireland) Act 1829.
This act restated that buggery was to be punished by the death penalty.
Offences Against the Person Act 1861.
This act updated and streamlined the criminal law of Great Britain and Ireland. It outlawed many forms of practices including 'buggery' or male-to-male penetrative sex. The punishment was life imprisonment or a jail sentence of not less than 10 years. It abolished the death penalty for such acts, which had been law up to this point.
Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885.
Commonly known as the Labouchere Amendment. This act outlawed what was termed "acts of gross indecency" between men both in public and in private. The definition was vague and included intimate acts falling short of penetrative sex between two men. Male to male sex was illegal under previous law but it was very narrowly interpreted by the courts. Usually, the courts required that penetration to have occurred for 'buggery' to have taken place. This new act made it much easier to punish the intimate acts of men together. The penalty was a maximum of two years imprisonment. The Irish author and dramatist Oscar Wilde was convicted in England under this act.
Vagrancy Act 1898.
This prohibited soliciting or importuning for immoral purposes. It was originally intended as a measure against male to female prostitution, however, in practice, these measures were almost solely applied to male-to-male sex acts.
Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 1912.
This allowed flogging to be used as a punishment for existing crimes in regards to sexual offences.
Criminal Law Bill 1921.
Proposed to extend the provision criminalising gross indecency between males to gross indecency between females. This bill was dropped due to those who felt that to even criminalise female-to-female sex acts would draw attention to these acts and publicise them. As a result, female-to-female sex acts were legal, unlike male-to-male sex acts.
"Norris v. the Attorney General" (1980) (High Court).
David Norris, later to become a senator for Trinity College Dublin and presidential candidate, took the Attorney General to the High Court over the criminalisation of male-to-male sex. He argued that the law infringed on his right to privacy to have consensual sex with a man and that since the introduction of the Constitution of Ireland the law passed under British rule became repugnant to the constitution. The High Court ruled against Norris. He appealed his case to the Supreme Court.
"Norris v. the Attorney General" (1983) (Supreme Court).
Having lost his High Court case Norris appealed his case to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the law by a three to two verdict.
Health (Family Planning) (Amendment) Act 1985.
This act legalised the manufacture, sale, and importation of condoms in Ireland. Prior to this condoms were banned under the law. The law was changed to allow condoms in order to help protect the health and lives of gay men during the AIDS crisis.
"Norris v. Ireland" (1988) (European Court of Human Rights).
Having lost the Supreme Court case Norris took his case to the European Court of Human Rights. The European Court struck down the law criminalising male-to-male sex on the grounds of privacy. It was held that this infringed on the right of adults to engage in acts of their own choice. Irish law was regarded as too narrow and extreme.
Regulations regarding sexual orientation in the Irish Civil Service (1988).
These regulations affected the terms and conditions of employment of civil servants. These regulations prohibited discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or if a person was HIV positive.
Prohibition of Incitement To Hatred Act 1989.
Prohibited inciting hatred on various grounds including a person's sexual orientation. This was the first piece of legislation to actually provide some protection gays and lesbians.
Video Recordings Act 1989.
This act regulates the sale and supply of video recordings. It allows the Censor to suppress videos that are likely to stir up hatred against a person or group of persons on account of their sexual orientation as well as on other grounds.
Child Care Act 1991.
This act regulates the service of fostering. This act permits same-sex couples to apply jointly for fostering. This may not have been intended at the time to permit same-sex couples to foster children, however, it has since become practice to allow same-sex couple to foster.
Adoption Act 1991.
Up until this act, an adoption could only be granted to a married couple living together, the natural parents of the child, a relative of the child or a widow or widower. This act allowed a person not related to the child to adopt provided the Adoption Board was satisfied that this was in the best interests of the child. This meant that a single person irrespective of their sexual orientation could adopt a child. Presumably, this was to take place in exceptional circumstances. Same-sex and opposite-sex cohabiting couples were not permitted to apply for adoption. This has since been changed by the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015.
Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1993.
Decriminalised acts of male-to-male sex. This act repealed the sections of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 on buggery over the age of 17 thereby setting an equal age of consent for same-sex or opposite-sex sexual intercourse. It also repealed as a whole the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885, thereby abolishing 'acts of gross indecency between males' in law.
Unfair Dismissals (Amendment) Act 1993.
Prohibited dismissing an employee on a number of grounds including sexual orientation.
Social Welfare (Consolidation) Act 1993.
This act provided the legal basis for social welfare payments and consolidated all previous acts regarding social welfare into one act. This act allowed for some social welfare payments to be given to cohabiting opposite-sex couples. Same-sex couples were not recognised and thus were unable to apply for any social welfare payments as a couple.
Health Insurance Act 1994.
This act prohibited health insurance companies from varying their premiums on the grounds of a person's sexual orientation.
Domestic Violence Act 1996.
Allows for a partner in a same-sex cohabiting relationship to apply for safety order or an interim protection order but does not allow for a permanent barring order which was at the time available to married couples and opposite-sex couples. This has since been changed. See Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 below. Also see Domestic Violence Bill 2017
Powers of Attorney Act 1996.
Widened a person's right to grant power of attorney beyond their family or next of kin. A person could grant power of attorney to another person i.e. their partner where that person becomes unable to make decisions for themselves due to mental incapacity. This law has since been amended by the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015.
Refugee Act 1996.
Allowed refugee status to be conferred on an individual on the basis of a fear of persecution arising from their sexual orientation.
Freedom of Information Act 1997.
This act allows the general public to have access to information and records kept about them by the civil service, state agencies and by private companies. The act allows information on a person's sexual orientation to be kept on record and to be shared.
Treaty of Amsterdam 1997.
Sexual orientation was included amongst the grounds for prohibiting discrimination at work. In order to ratify the Treaty of Amsterdam, a referendum had to be held to amend the Irish constitution. The Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland amended the constitution in order to allow the state to ratify the Treaty of Amsterdam.
British-Irish Agreement 1998.
The British-Irish Agreement provided the legal basis for the Good Friday Agreement. In the Good Friday Agreement, the British government gave a commitment to establish a Human Rights Commission for Northern Ireland. It also committed all public bodies to carry out their duties with due regard for the need to promote equality of opportunity on nine grounds including sexual orientation. The Irish government gave a similar commitment. The Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland allowed the Irish state to ratify the British-Irish Agreement.
Employment Equality Act 1998.
Prohibited discrimination at work on a number of grounds including sexual orientation. The act covered aspects such as terms and conditions in employment contracts; promotion and demotion; harassment at work; indirect discrimination; pay and work conditions; membership of unions and professional bodies; and participating in training courses. Mechanisms were put in place to ensure the enforcement of this Act. A person can seek mediation or adjudication with the Equality Authority or go to the Equality Tribunal for a binding ruling which can only be appealed to the courts on a point of law. Under Section 37(1) as enacted, a religious institution that provided religious, educational or medical services enjoyed a broad exemption from this act, allowing religious-run schools and hospitals to take action against an employee or prospective employee in order to uphold their ethos. Since 98% of primary schools and 52% of secondary schools are religious run, this meant that up until 2015 a school could legally discriminate against a gay or lesbian employee. Section 37.1 was amended to narrow the grounds for legal discrimination by the Equality (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015.
Equal Status Act 2000.
Prohibited discrimination on many grounds, including sexual orientation, in the provision of services and goods by commercial companies as well as by state institutions such as the civil service and state agencies. It covered a wide area of services such as financial produces–mortgages, savings, loans; access to building and clubs and societies–not be allowed to be told to leave on the grounds on ones sexual orientation from a nightclub etc.; the state through it civil service and its various agencies could not discriminate in matter such as–granting loans or grants to university, providing an individual dole to other social assistant; in terms of renting property a landlord could not refuse to offer accommodation to a gay man or couple or evict them on that basis. The Act also empowered the Equality Authority to monitor and enforce the law regarding equality in both the provision of goods and services and employment. A person can take a case to the Equality Tribunal in the event of discrimination occurring.
Finance Act 2000.
Allowed cohabiting couples either same-sex or opposite-sex to apply for relief on Capital Acquisitions Tax on their property in limited circumstances.
Health Insurance (Amendment) Act 2001.
This restated the prohibition of discrimination in the provision of health insurance on the grounds of sexual orientation under the Health Insurance Act 1994. This applies to individuals and not same-sex couples.
Implementing Equality for Lesbians, Gays, and Bisexuals 2002.
In a wide-ranging report on the situation of gays and lesbian in Ireland, the Equality Authority made many recommendations for change across many areas. Most of its recommendations were non-statutory. It called for all policies of the government departments to be equality proofed on the grounds of sexual orientation. It called for many changes needed to help benefit gays and lesbians for example hospital visits of partners of same-sex couples, provision of services where the provider are ignorant or unaware of the needs of gays and lesbians. It also called on for civil marriage to be widened to also for same-sex couples to marry. It also called on for civil partnership laws to be introduced if same-sex marriage is not allowed.
European Arrest Warrants Act 2003.
This act gave legal effect to the EU Framework Decision on the issuing of European Arrest Warrants. A European arrest warrant applies to all of the EU. However, the Minister for Justice can refuse to surrender a person if it is believed that the European arrest warrant was issued in order to punish that person on the grounds of their sexual orientation as well as on other discriminatory grounds.
Civil Registration Act 2004.
Placed a bar on the ability of two men or two women from entering into marriage. This reinforced the common law understanding, at the time, that marriage is between one man and one woman. This act allowed for marriages (between a man and a woman) to take place in other locations than a church and a registry office. This bar