A legal challenge to Northern Ireland's ban on gay marriage opened on Thursday. The landmark challenge has been launched by two couples - Grainne Close and Shannon Sickles, and Chris and Henry Flanagan-Kanem. They have been granted permission for a judicial review of the Stormont Assembly's repeated refusal to legislate for same-sex marriage. They were the first and second couples, respectively, to enter into a civil partnership in the UK after Northern Ireland made that option available in late 2005. Northern Ireland is now the only part of the British Isles which does not allow gay marriage, following the Republic of Ireland’s ‘yes’ vote in May.