Greg DalyA legal expert has questioned the appropriateness of apparent support by An Post of a ‘yes’ vote in the forthcoming referendum on same-sex marriage.
It comes as the State-run company produced a stamp to coincide with this weekend’s celebration of St Valentine’s Day which included the international symbol used to promote the redefinition of marriage.
The designer of the new stamp, artist Oonagh Young, admitted on social media at the weekend: “I designed the ‘love&marriage’ stamp for An Post, including red equals symbol for marriage equality. Spread the love.”
Lecturer in constitutional law at University College Cork (UCC) Dr Seán Ó Conaill, who has already expressed concerns about the Government appearing to have prejudged the outcome of the upcoming marriage referendum through its use of the loaded term ‘marriage equality’, told The Irish Catholic that An Post should be “careful” about being seen to be taking sides in the referendum debate.
Pointing out that it is hard to imagine another State body with which citizens deal with on a daily basis more often than with An Post, Dr Ó Conaill said the situation is a “quirky” one.
While he said it could be argued that An Post is not using taxpayers’ money to produce Ms Young’s stamps, Dr Ó Conaill nonetheless questioned whether it was “appropriate” for a State-owned company to be seen to be supporting something in a referendum when the State itself is precluded from so doing.
However, a spokesman for An Post insisted that the stamp was designed some time ago and has “no connection with any debate or referendum”.
He described Ms Young’s Twitter comment as “poorly worded”, but Dr Ó Conaill says the artist’s tweet was so clear that it is “impossible” for An Post to deny the stamp’s intended message.
Insisting that “the last thing we want to do is to censor art or free speech”, Dr Ó Conaill nonetheless warned, “we have such a bad record in this country of the Government interfering in referendum campaigns, that we should be more cautious”.