Labour party politician Dominic Hannigan has become the first TD to enter into a same-sex marriage – and he had to travel to London to do so.

The 49 year-old Meath East TD married his partner of 20 years, Chris, on New Year’s Eve.

“It was a 20-minute ceremony with no witnesses and it cost £4”, he told The Star newspaper.

Article in The Star today about me tying the knot. Thanks to Catherine Halloran #labour #belongto pic.twitter.com/eHOn402sxp

— Dominic Hannigan (@Domhannigan) January 21, 2015

Hannigan also praised Minister for Health Leo Varadkar for coming out recently and said that he thinks that will encourage other TDs – who have yet to come out – to do the same.

“I do believe there are some people in this house who are gay but have not yet come out.

Hannigan came out publicly ten years ago when he was still a local councillor in Meath East.

“I don’t think coming out is anything to be feared. It is up to each individual”, he said. “There is nothing to be feared. You can gain a lot and feel happier. But you have to understand that people have very different reasons that make that decision very hard. They could be married, for example.”

Varadkar is the first serving Cabinet Minister to come out publicly and Hannigan believes it will encourage young gay people to come out.

“Leo will be a very positive role model for them. It will help kids to come to terms with themselves. It will make a lot of people much happier in themselves and it will lead to better mental health. […] When you have made the decision to come out, that it what you have to do. There is no point in doing it on a small scale – get it done and dusted and then it ceases to be an issue”, he said.

The ex-Seanad member warned, in the same interview, that though there is a high support percentage, it could fail due to voter complacency.

“It will be a very difficult referendum to win. The enemy is complacency. No doubt, family and friends of the LGBT community will come out in force. […] But my worry is that people who do not know many people affected, getting them out to vote might be difficult.”