AMONG the world’s more spectacular venues for non-religious weddings are some historic stone buildings dotted along the high points of Ireland’s north coast: places where you can enjoy a breathtaking view of a short, choppy stretch of water. One occasionally used structure is the Mussenden Temple, built by an eccentric, super-rich bishop in the 18th century but secular in feel. It is adorned by a smug quote from the anti-religious Roman poet Lucretius, about the pleasure of watching a ship plough through a storm from dry land. On clear days, visitors can crane their necks northeast and trace the outlines of the Scottish coast.

But for all their historic proximity, there are some ways in which Scotland and Northern Ireland are rather different, and the regulation of marriage has hitherto been one of them. In 2005 Scotland became the first part of the British Isles to recognise humanist weddings, which offer a ceremony of pomp and circumstance free of any religious element. The humanist movement believes it should have the same legal standing as religious rites. Demand for this type of wedding duly rocketed. In 2015 Scotland saw 4,290 of them, compared with 4,052 weddings in the national Church of Scotland and 1,483 in the Roman Catholic church. After only a decade, in a land long associated with contention between passionately embraced forms of Christianity, humanist nuptials had become the most popular kind of union.

Images: lace wedding dresses

See all updatesA similar legal change may soon take place in Northern Ireland, but only in the teeth of opposition from the region’s authorities. On June 22nd, thanks to a high-profile court battle, the territory saw its first legally valid humanist wedding. The happy couple were Laura Lacole, a model and outspoken atheist, and Eunan O’Kane, a footballer for the Irish republic. Ms Lacole has been conducting a feisty legal struggle against Northern Ireland’s General Register Office and Finance Department on the grounds that, in failing to recognise humanist weddings, they were in breach of European human-rights legislation on freedom of religion and belief. The Northern Irish agencies insist there has been no such violation.

On June 9th the Belfast High Court ruled in Ms Lacole’s favour, prompting a countervailing appeal by the region’s masters. That appeal is still pending, but an interim ruling gave Ms Lacole the right to enjoy her own humanist ceremony with full legal recognition. She said the non-religious rite would “speak to our values and the love Eunan and I have for one another in a way that no other marriage ceremony could”.

Humanist weddings gained formal recognition in the Irish republic in 2012, and they now account for about six per cent of legal marriages. In England and Wales, no such change has happened. Plenty of couples exchange vows before a humanist celebrant but these proceedings make no difference to their legal status; they still need to go to a registry office to marry in the eyes of the law.

Noel Scott, a veteran celebrant of humanist rites in Northern Ireland, thinks demand for people with his skills could surge if Ms Lacole wins a definitive victory. For years, the consultant psychiatrist was the only person in the region to offer rites of passage (funerals and baby-naming as well as weddings) from a humanist perspective. Three trained-up marriage celebrants, accredited by the British Humanist Association, entered the local field last year, and seven people who can offer humanist funerals in Northern Ireland are about to emerge from training. But for the foreseeable future, the Northern Irish probably will not be as secular in their rites of passage as their Scottish neighbours have become.

Several other recent news stories have highlighted that contrast. The Presbyterians of Ireland have all but severed ties with their mother church in Scotland, which is taking steps towards endorsing gay marriage. And it emerged this week that Arlene Foster, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), had corresponded vigorously about marital matters in 2015 with a Scottish government minister. She urged him to rescind Scotland’s open offer to upgrade civil partnerships contracted in Northern Ireland into full same-sex marriages. (The DUP has blocked moves to introduce equal marriage in Northern Ireland.) Gay-rights groups were enraged by the news of Ms Foster’s request, which met a firm refusal. No wonder Scotland’s Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, a Protestant who plans to marry an Irish Catholic woman, is dismayed at the thought of her party wielding power in London through a political deal with the DUP.

Also see: simple wedding dresses