Pre-marriage courses and who really pays

IT would be a mistake to make any link between the withdrawal of funding for pre-marriage courses and the referendum that will be held on May 22.

Despite some suggestions to the contrary, there is no evidence that this move has anything to do with the Catholic Church’s opposition to the proposed amendment.

The simple fact of the matter is that State grant aid in this area has decreased in recent years. With so many other pressing demands on Exchequer resources, the money simply isn’t there.

Where questions do arise, however, is to why this scale of public funding is necessary.

Of course the church hierarchy is perfectly entitled to insist on all prospective wedding couples attending such a course before being permitted to walk up the aisle.

But there seems little justification for this process to be heavily subsidised, as it has been, by taxpayers’ precious money.

Latest figures show that more than 15,000 people attend these courses each year. Most couples have to pay €100 or more for doing so. Some have reported fees of €200.

Given that the courses are held in ordinary venues and often attended by scores of people at a time, it seems unlikely that they are massively costly for the Church. Quite the opposite, in fact.

They are far more likely to be a drain on the meagre resources of young couples struggling both to pay for a wedding and make a life together.

But if they want to be married in church, they must attend and pay up. It benefits all of us for marriages to be strong and enduring. But, please, no more wrongheading complaining about withdrawal of funding.