Irish govt fails to replace constitutional references on family, women’s role in home

Dublin [Ireland]: The Irish government faced defeat on Saturday in its attempt to replace two constitutional references, one stating that the family unit was “founded” on marriage, the other that a woman supports the Irish state through “her life within the home,” as reported by CNN.

Ireland went to the polls coinciding with International Women’s Day on Friday to replace these two constitutional references.
As per to the CNN report, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said on Saturday afternoon that it was clear that the referenda had not passed. “I think it’s clear at this stage that the family amendment and the care amendment referendums have been defeated,” Varadkar said at a press conference in Dublin.

Official results for both votes were to be announced separately later on Saturday.

Throughout the day, there was a low turnout reported, with some areas seeing less than 30 per cent of registered voters, CNN reported citing PA Media.

If the votes had passed, the constitution would have stated that the family is based “on marriage or on other durable relationships.”
Religious and socially conservative groups that campaigned for a “No” vote took issue with the concept of a “durable relationship” and argued in support of the constitution’s original wording.

In a charged RTE debate days before the vote, conservative campaigner Maria Steen clashed with the Irish deputy prime minister, Micheal Martin, insisting that “the reality is that the majority of women do the majority of work in the home.”

Ireland’s constitution, published in 1937, was strongly influenced by Catholic social teachings, according to legal scholars. In recent decades, Catholic influence has slowly decreased, and the country’s church has been rocked by a series of abuse scandals involving the clergy, as reported by CNN.

Ireland has held referendums on a number of social issues in recent years, with voters repeatedly supporting progressive changes to the country’s constitution.

In 2015, voters overwhelmingly supported the legalization of same-sex marriage. Three years later, they cast ballots to end an abortion ban, and in 2019, divorce laws were liberalized after another referendum.