Gay and lesbian couples are now able to get married in all four nations of the UK.
Same-sex marriage is now legal in Northern Ireland – despite repeated attempts by the DUP to thwart legal equality for gay and lesbians in the region.
The subject of same-sex marriage had been voted on at least five times by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Northern Ireland is the last nation in the United Kingdom to legalise marriage between two people of the same sex. England, Scotland and Wales have permitted same-sex marriage since 2014.
This also means that gay people who are already married will have their marriages recognised in Northern Ireland.
From today, couples in Northern Ireland can register their intent to marry with the authorities with the first actual marriages expected to take place on the 10th February 2020.
Legal equality was only possible, after repeated attempts by campaigners to bring same-sex marriage to the table, when, the Stormont assembly collapsed in 2019.
This meant that in July 2019, MPs backed amendments which required the government to change abortion laws and extend same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland if devolution was not restored by 21 October 2019.
