A new dawn - whatever the future holds for us

We are finally becoming a nation more at ease with itself on issues of social morality, writes Gerard O'Regan

"Of all the words spoken, and all the arguments made, during the course of the marriage referendum debate, none was more pivotal than the contribution of former President Mary McAleese"

Gerard O'Regan

Of all the words spoken, and all the arguments made, during the course of the marriage referendum debate, none was more pivotal than the contribution of former President Mary McAleese.

Hers was a very personal and human story, made all the more potent because of her deeply held Catholic beliefs. The fact that she felt so compelled to share it with the nation was surely born of one of the deepest emotions of all - a parent's love for their child. "This is personal," she said for all who would care to listen.