Births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths can now be registered in Irish - Murphy 

Finance Minister, Conor Murphy has announced that headings for new registrations of births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths can now be registered in Irish.

The new regulations are part of a phased response to a New Decade New Approach commitment to enable people to access public services in their chosen language.

Making the announcement following today’s Assembly debate, Minister Murphy said: “Until now birth, marriage, civil partnerships and death certificates could only be produced in English. The public will now have more choice when it comes to registering births, marriages, civil partnerships and deaths as headings for new registrations can now be in English, Irish, or Bi-lingual English and Irish.

"My intention is that the next step would see further parts of the registration process available in Irish.  I would like to see further stages moving towards the full registration process being conducted in Irish.

“This is a significant development in the journey towards equality for all our citizens.”

Notes to editors: 

1. The Regulations amend the Marriage Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003, the Civil Partnership Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and the Civil Registration Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012. The Regulations came into effect on Friday 11 March. 
2. The new regulations also include stillbirths and the conversion of civil partnerships to marriage and vice versa.
3. While the choice of headings will be available in alternative languages, the registration process and the information required for the registration will still be provided in English.
4. Media enquiries should be addressed to the Department of Finance Press Office at dof.pressoffice@finance-ni.gov.uk.
5. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.    
6. Follow us on Twitter - @dptfinance

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