Could Ireland be adding another bank holiday to the calendar?

After 1.2 million people cast their votes on May 23, same sex marriage became legal in Ireland.

It is no doubt a day that will go down in history, and now there's a proposal to mark the date in a way that will live on forever.

Yesterday it was suggested in the Dáil that Ireland should add another bank holiday to the calendar.

Sinn Féin TD Padraig MacLochlainn read a letter he had received from a man calling for May 23 to become a bank holiday in this country.

A part of the letter read: "In a hundred years, time the 23rd of May will be seen not Ireland's, but one of humanity's proudest moments because it was a day when equality conquered fear.

Perhaps May 23rd should become a bank holiday, and called be Equality Day? To remind future generations of the significance of not just our emancipation, but the equality of every citizen."

He also noted: Marriage is about one thing; love, and a lasting commitment to honour love. Nobody should ever be denied that opportunity."

Ireland became the first country that introduced legal same sex marriage by vote. Currently we have nine public holidays. This is one more than the United Kingdom, one less than the US (and nine fewer than India).