<P> In the period 1759 - 1826 many couples from Ireland went to Scotland to marry, particularly to Portpatrick, Wigtown which was described as the Gretna Green for Ireland . There was a daily packet boat from Donaghadee, and marriages were conducted by the Church of Scotland minister at Portpatrick, though according to Brack (see Portpatrick) he often overlooked the rules about the publication of banns or the required period of residence . </P> <P> A human rights legal case in 2017 and 2018 centered on Laura Lacole and Eunan O'Kane's request for a legally binding humanist marriage, supported by Humanists UK, which has implications for who can register as celebrants . In the initial 2017 judgment, the High Court ordered that the words "or belief" be "read in" to references to religion in marriage law to allow humanists to conduct legally binding humanist marriages; a similar decision was taken by the Scottish Registrar General in 2005 . In 2018, the Court of Appeal said that refusing humanists legal marriage rights was unlawful discrimination, but quashed the order compelling a read - in, saying the state can avoid incompatibility by registering humanists to provide legal weddings as civil celebrants . Humanists UK celebrants in Northern Ireland became authorised to conduct legal marriages shortly after . The first humanist marriage in this new regime took place on 25 August 2018 . </P>

When did divorce become legal in northern ireland