RTÉ has released a new documentary looking back at one of the most significant moments in modern Irish history: the 2015 marriage equality referendum. A Day in May, presented by journalist and playwright Colin Murphy, revisits the people and stories behind the historic vote and examines how the referendum transformed individual lives and society more broadly.

10 years after the referendum, Murphy reconnects with people who were originally interviewed by the late journalist Charlie Bird in the lead-up to the 2015 vote. Their stories provide a personal perspective on how attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people, families and marriage have changed over the past decade.

“In 2015, Charlie brought me an extraordinary series of interviews he had done around the referendum, and I turned them into a play,” Colin Murphy tells RTÉ.

“He hoped the play would be done again on the 10th anniversary and, when it was, I decided I should go back to the people he had interviewed and see how their lives had changed.”

 

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The documentary follows Murphy as he meets people and families across Ireland, hearing about their experiences before, during and after the referendum. It explores a time when many LGBTQ+ people felt unable to openly express who they were, while also considering the hopes, fears and expectations surrounding the campaign for marriage equality.

The programme features emotional conversations with members of the community and their families, alongside contributions from political figures and campaigners including Ivana Bacik, Lynn Boylan, Malcolm Byrne, Colm O’Gorman, Frances Fitzgerald and Dr Katherine Zappone.

Murphy also reflects the profound social changes that have taken place since 2015 and what the referendum means to a younger generation.

“One of the things that has inspired me as I went on the journey from writing the play with Charlie to making this documentary, 10 years on, was the thought that my children were growing up in a country that was utterly different, and the hope that the homophobia that was deeply embedded in the society that I grew up in would be a thing of the past.”

A Day in May offers a timely reflection on the people behind Ireland’s historic vote and the lasting impact of the decision made at the ballot box a decade ago. The documentary was broadcast on RTÉ One on Wednesday, August 12 at 9:35pm and is now available on RTÉ Player.