The Presbyterian Church in Ireland is calling on MLAs to vote against a motion supporting same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland on Monday.

Roman Catholic bishops are also writing to Northern Ireland Assembly members asking them to reject the bid to support the redefinition of marriage.

When MLAs rejected a similar attempt last October, Northern Ireland’s Finance Minister said he believed there was no widespread demand in the Province to redefine marriage.

Debate

The new motion has been tabled by three Sinn Fein MLAs, and will be debated at Stormont on 29 April.

It calls for the Northern Ireland Executive “to bring forward the necessary legislation to allow for same sex marriage”.

It follows moves in the Republic of Ireland towards having a referendum on same-sex marriage.

But the Sinn Fein motion in the Northern Ireland Assembly does not mention a referendum for the Province.

Oppose

When last year’s motion to support redefining marriage was rejected, Finance Minister Sammy Wilson said: “I am opposed to gay marriage, I would have no intention of bringing forward any legislation to this House to facilitate gay marriage and I believe that in doing that I do reflect what is the general view in this society in Northern Ireland.”

He said there were many other issues the Assembly should be debating, such as the economy.

Last month two groups that support gay marriage said legal action could be used to force redefinition on Northern Ireland.

Liberty

Amnesty International and a gay lobby group in the Province said a legal challenge could be made if marriage is not redefined in Northern Ireland, but is in the rest of the UK.

In February this year the Westminster Parliament saw most Conservative MPs vote against David Cameron’s plans to redefine marriage.

In Scotland a consultation has recently finished on the details of a same-sex marriage Bill, with concerns raised about the civil liberty protections in the proposed legislation.