Three couples – including Shannon Sickles and Grainne Close, the first gay couple to enter into a civil union in Northern Ireland in 2005 – challenged the current legislation on the the Stormont Assembly’s repeated refusal to legislate for same sex marriage, by judicial review.

Current legislation means that – along with the inability of same-sex couples engage in full civil marriage – the marriages of couples married elsewhere in the UK, which along with Ireland has full marriage equality, are essentially ‘downgraded’ to civil partnerships in Northern Ireland.

If successful, Sickes and Close together with Christopher and Henry Flanagan-Kane, the first men to enter into a civil partnership in Northern Ireland, will have their partnerships upgraded to civil marriage.

A third couple are also involved in a legal action against the Assembly’s stance on gay marriage, but have expressed a wish to remain anonymous, reports Irish News.

The couples were granted permission to ‘judicially review’ the Assembly’s refusal to legalise same-sex marriage in 2015.

Sickles told Irish News the case she and Close are taking with the Flanagan-Kanes is “distinct” from the anonymised petition.

“Our case is distinct in that winning this is about bringing same-sex marriage to all couples in Northern Ireland,” she said.

“We’re looking for same-sex couples to be able to get married in Northern Ireland, not for specifically for a marriage which happened in another jurisdiction to be recognised.”

In a message on Facebook, Close spoke about the renewed importance of marriage equality, especially as a parent. “Personally, this couldn’t have come at a worse time for me. But this case isn’t about me, it’s about equal marriage for every lesbian and gay person living in NI.

I’m confident the judge will want to be on the right side of history and bring NI in line with the rest of UK & Ireland. We know achieving LGBT rights takes time and this has been a long time coming.

“It was important from the outset that we take the case along with Henry & Chris, who were the first men to have a U.K. Civil partnership in 2005. But now our priorities have changed and it’s all the more important to the four of us as parents. Please feel free to join us tomorrow in court at 2pm, if you can.”

The ruling will be announced at Belfast High Court tomorrow, August 17 at 2pm.