Ireland gay marriage: Same-sex couples can officially get hitched from today

Legalisation passed following the overwhelming referendum vote in favour of gay weddings comes into effect

Monnine Griffith and Clodagh Robinson celebrate after early results suggest an overwhelming majority in favour of legalising gay marriage

Same-sex couples in the Republic of Ireland can officially get married from today after the country voted overwhelmingly for the change in a referendum in May.

Legislation legalising gay civil marriage, passed following the vote, came into effect on Monday.

The first couples to be affected will be gay couples who married legally abroad – whose unions will now automatically be recognised by the Irish state.

But the race is now on to see who which couple will become the first gay newlyweds to legally marry in Eire itself.

It is likely to be a gay couple who had applied to hold a civil partnership. Registrars on the Emerald Isle are now contacting these couples to see if they would prefer to be married instead.

New applications for civil partnerships are no longer being accepted.

Religious opponents of same-sex marriage, including the Roman Catholic Church, are not required to marry gay couples under The Marriage Act 2015, which applies only to civil unions.

Orla Howard and her wife Dr Grainne Courtney, are among the first same-sex couples to have their marriages recognised by the Irish state, having wed in America in 2013.

Ms Howard told the BBC: "It's a terrific moment, because our marriage will be the same as any straight couple's marriage from Monday morning.”