Same sex marriage 'matter of time' in N Ireland: Indian-origin

Ireland's first Indian-origin and openly gay Prime Minister Leo Varadkar today said that it is "only a matter of time" before same sex marriage is legalised in Northern Ireland.
Varadkar, 38, at the end of his two-day visit to Northern Ireland, attended a gay Pride breakfast at the Northern Whig pub in central Belfast ahead of the main Pride parade.
Northern Ireland is the only place in the UK where a ban on same-sex marriage still exists.
"I am not here to unsettle anyone but I am here to show my support and the support of my government for equality before the law for all citizens no matter where they reside," Varadkar said.

Asked whether he believed same sex marriage would be legalised, he said: "I do, I think it is only a matter of time. Of course, the decision is for the Northern Ireland Assembly. But I am confident that like other western European countries they will make that decision in due course".
He also met Garda -- the Police Service of Northern Ireland and some gay officers from England who were parading in uniform at the Pride parade.

Varadkar said he did not raise the issue with Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader (Arlene Foster) when he met her yesterday, but that previously he advised her of his views.

He said that he knew Northern Ireland "well enough" and believed that public opinion on gay marriage had "moved on a long time ago".
"My reason really for being here is just to express solidarity, to express my support and that of my government, for individual freedom and equality before the law for all citizens. We would do this in any part of the world," Varadkar added.