THE NORTHERN IRELAND Court of Appeal today heard an appeal from the local government to the Belfast High Court ruling extending legal recognition to humanist marriages.

The issue of humanist marriages in Northern Ireland was brought to the fore by Republic of Ireland international Eunan O’Kane and model Laura Lacole who launched a court bid to allow their humanist marriage to go ahead.

As it stood, a couple that wanted a humanist ceremony must also have a separate civil registration for their marriage to be legally recognised.

The British Humanist Association said this means that the ceremony that actually matters to the couple has no status in law.

The High Court ruled in June that O’Kane and Lacole could have the humanist marriage that they wished for.

However, due to an appeal made by the Northern Irish government, a stay was put on the decision for other couples pending a decision from the Court of Appeal.

At the conclusion of today’s hearing, the court decided on a further stay on the ruling, so that the different parties can have more time to negotiate a “compromise solution”.

The British Humanist Association said that the court invited parties to “explore an alternative avenue to that which had been considered before”.

It has been invited to work with a number of celebrants to apply to the Registrar General to be granted the right to “solemnise civil marriages”.

Speaking about today’s court stay, Laura Lacole said: “All Eunan and I wanted is a legal marriage ceremony that reflects our personal beliefs and desires, and for us that means a humanist ceremony.

We have now had our legal humanist wedding ceremony, but for the sake of many, many other couples like us, we very much hope that this extension to others is able to happen.

Humanist weddings have been legally recognised as marriages in Scotland since 2005 and in Ireland since 2012.

Around 6% of legal marriages were humanist in Ireland in 2015, more than three times as many as there were Protestant marriages.

However, to date couples in Northern Ireland, England, and Wales have been required to have an additional register office ceremony to make their humanist wedding legally binding.

With reporting from Cliodhna Russell.

Read: Republic of Ireland player and model granted legal recognition of humanist wedding

Read: Republic of Ireland player and model take battle for humanist wedding to the High Court