Muslim Polygamy Outlawed in Ireland

From the UK Telegraph comes this report.

Muslims who marry Irish women have to make a formal declaration that they will not take more than one wife on being granted citizenship.

The Irish government confirmed yesterday that it has ordered all men from Islamic countries seeking residency to sign a sworn affidavit rejecting polygamy.

Muslim men also have to agree they will not seek residency for a second wife if granted Irish citizenship. A man must swear he has "one spouse only" and "has no intention of entering into a simultaneous marriage."

As I understand, Islam has always specified that a man can have up to four wives, but this is the first time that I've heard of a monogamous nation having a problem with multiple marriages. There are married Muslims throughout America, but I'm not aware of any multiple marriage issues. Maybe there is a problem and it just hasn't bubbled to the attention of the courts and media yet.

On a related subject, the divorce procedure specified by Islam is unique in several regards. Recognizing that I'm not schooled in the process, I understand that only the husband can divorce the wife and it involves some sort of recitations and declarations with witnesses. If my understanding is close to being correct, the Muslim divorce process would seem to be completely incompatible with Western democracies. (Via Blackfive)