An Irish Gaelic football star has spoken up about his opposition to gay couples marrying, but insists he is not homophobic.

The Republic of Ireland is set to vote on May 22 on a proposal to introduce civil same-sex marriage.

Ahead of the vote a number of celebrities have spoken up for the Yes campaign, with Bono and Sherlcok star Andrew Scott lending their voices – but the No campaign has had few prominent endorsements.

However, Gaelic footballer Ger Brennan, who plays for Dublin and St Vincents, has spoken up about his opposition to same-sex marriage.

He wrote in the Irish Independent: “I’m sick of the accusations being flung around that if you vote ‘No’ you are homophobic.

“I know I’m not homophobic; my gay friends and family can attest to that.

“I am voting ‘No’ because I don’t want our Constitution to deny that it is a good thing for a child to have a mother and a father.”

The referendum does not include same-sex adoption in any way, and contains no language relating to gay parenting.

He continued: “The Universal Declaration on Human Rights proclaims that everybody is equal in dignity and it holds that marriage is a male-female union.

“I don’t think the Declaration of Human Rights is homophobic. I’m voting ‘No’.”

While the Declaration – signed in 1948 – states:”Men and women of full age… have the right to marry”, it does not explicitly deny this right to any other couples, nor does it define marriage on those terms exclusively.

Brennan raised eyebrows in 2014 when he thanked the “girlfriends and boyfriends” of players on his team.