Gary O’Sullivan (23), from Sandymount in Dublin, has felt in the past that being gay was a bad thing. He believes that the introduction of equal marriage will have a beneficial effect on young gay people’s mental health, and simply be better for Irish society.

“I thought being gay meant that I was worth less than ‘normal’ people. By voting for equal marriage we can show young Irish people that being gay is not something that we have to hide from our friends and family. This will, quite simply, make a lot of Irish people a lot happier.”