Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

It's been a relatively foregone conclusion. We always knew the actual result would be closer than the polls suggested, but anything above 60% is fantastic. It's a good day for Ireland today. A very good day.

Personally I always viewed this as less a gay rights issue than a human rights issue... in many ways the precise opposite of those who felt gay marriage somehow undermines or lessens hetero marriage. It seems to me that any basic human right, such as the right to marry, is actively undermined and lessened unless it's universal. If a subsection of the population is excluded from a specific right, then those who avail of that right are complicit (albeit entirely unwillingly) in an injustice.

So by voting in favour of gay marriage; Ireland has become a better place for all its citizens - straight or gay. Now that the referendum has been won, the legislation will pass through parliament over the summer and Ireland will see its first gay marriages sometime this autumn.

Truly great news!