The no vote won in the Irish referendums on gender equality and a broader vision of the family. This is what Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar says. The Irish government had put forward an amendment in which the role of Irish women ‘at the hearth’ would be deleted.
Varadkar said it was “clear at this point” that the proposed amendments to the constitution had not passed. He also talked about a respectable turnout. “So the government accepts the result and we will fully respect it,” Varadkar said on Saturday afternoon, according to public broadcaster RTÉ. “As leader of the government, and on behalf of the government, we accept responsibility for the outcome.”
The Irish went to the polls on Friday to vote on two amendments to the constitution. It dates from 1937, a time when Ireland was governed by a Puritan branch of the Catholic Church. For example, the constitution states that “a woman, through her life at home, provides the state with a support without which the common good cannot be achieved” and that “mothers are not obliged by economic necessity to perform labor in neglect of their duties at home.”
Place of the woman
The Irish government put forward an amendment in which the role of Irish women ‘at the hearth’ would be deleted. In its place would be a more general recognition of care for family members. Announcing the referendum, Irish Equalities Minister Roderic O’Gorman stated that a woman’s place is “wherever she wants it”.
In a second referendum, broader constitutional protection for different types of families was put forward. Currently, this is only available to married families, while there are many other forms of cohabitation.
Any constitutional change in Ireland must be done by referendum. Ireland, which has a very Catholic tradition, has also approved gay marriage and a relaxation of abortion legislation through referendums in recent years.
