1ST IRISH DIVORCE GRANTED.

Byline: Mary Carolan Associated Press 

A court did what once was unthinkable and granted the first divorce in Ireland's history Friday, quietly embarking on a new era forged by a bitter and closely fought debate in this Roman Catholic country.

Justice Henry Barron announced that he had granted a divorce to a man who was said to be gravely ill and unwilling to wait until divorce legislation became effective Feb. 27. The man's name was not publicly disclosed.

After a private hearing behind closed doors, Barron concluded that the constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 1995 provided authority for dissolving the marriage.

The divorce issue had been settled last summer when the nation's highest court unanimously ruled against a lawsuit filed by anti-divorce activists.

News of the first divorce was taken in stride. The story was fourth in the lineup on the 6 p.m. radio news on RTE, the state broadcasting service.

``Nobody's getting excited about this at all, because it is a special case,'' said Louise Smith, 49, a north Dublin woman who has been separated from her husband for a decade.

``I'm not terminally ill, so I imagine I'll have to wait ages,'' she said.

Gerry Hickey, spokesman for the Department of Equality and Law Reform, said the ruling Friday meant that any Irish citizen wanting a divorce could now apply.

``If people want to go this route and simply take a case to court and say there is a particular urgency, they can do it,'' Hickey said. He said applicants would have to convince the court that they could not wait until the effective date.

Hickey said he had no indication how many divorce cases were waiting to be heard. During the referendum campaign, the government estimated that 60,000 or more men and women in this nation of 3.5 million people were involved in marriages that had broken down.

The wife in the historic first divorce case did not want a divorce, but she did not contest her husband's application. The two are parents of two daughters and a son, all grown. The man also has a daughter by another woman. He wants to marry the woman.