On Wednesday, the TV3 current affairs programme MidWeek dealt with the issue of same-sex adoption. Brenda Power, opposing it, said that State officials shouldn’t have to decide for a child whether it can do without a mother or a father.

But perhaps the most interesting snippet from the discussion was a concession from Bryan Finnegan, the editor of Gay Community News.

When interviewer Collette Fitzpatrick asked whether Brenda had “a problem with gay people”, she responded that “as soon as you come out with a statement that is in any way contrary to the gay agenda, you have to be homophobic”. This position, she added, was “silly”.

In response, Mr Finnegan said: “I suppose the homophobic thing could be a sideline argument. I don’t think we should be arguing about that at this point. I think we should be talking about the best interests of the child.”

There we have the editor of Gay Community News doesn’t think the issue of homophobia is fundamental to the debate over gay adoption. Remember that when the issue arises over the coming months and years.