The Irish Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, conceded on Saturday that he had been defeated when two proposed modifications to the constitution did not succeed.The changes were about how a family is defined and removing language about a woman’s role at home.
Varadkar wanted to change the constitution to make it more fair for men and women. He also wanted to update it to reflect how families are today. He said that the voters gave the government a big surprise by voting against them twice.
“He said that we made a mistake. ” The saying goes that many people want to take credit for success but no one wants to take the blame for failure. But I believe that when you lose by a lot, a lot of people made mistakes, including me.
Critics said the changes to the laws were not clear enough, and people were unsure about the options, which could cause unexpected problems.
The vote was seen as part of Ireland’s change from a strict, mostly Catholic country where divorce and abortion were against the law, to a more diverse and open-minded society. The number of people who are Catholic has gone down from 94. 9% in 1961 to 69% in 2022, according to the Central Statistics Office.
The Irish Constitution, which was made in 1937, has been modified to reflect changes in society. The country was not officially called the Republic of Ireland until 1949. Irish people voted to allow divorce in 1995, to allow same-sex marriage in 2015, and to remove the ban on abortions in 2018.
The first question was about a part of the constitution that promises to keep families safe and important in society. Voters were asked to change the constitution to say that families can be started through marriage or other strong relationships, instead of just through marriage. It would have been the 39th change to the constitution if it passed.
A proposed 40th amendment would have taken out a mention that said women should stay at home because it is better for society than the state providing care. It also would have removed a statement that said mothers should not have to work if it means they can’t take care of their family at home. It would have said that the state will try to help family members take care of each other.
Siobhan Mullally, who teaches law and leads the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the University of Galway, said it was disrespectful for Varadkar to plan the vote on International Women’s Day, assuming people would use the day to remove the language about women in the home. The care amendment wasn’t very easy.
Voters want to get rid of the old idea that women should only stay at home. They also want new words that show the state helps with family care, even from people who aren’t family. Some people who support the rights of disabled people and fairness in society were against the rule because it was too strict in that area.
Mullally said it was a big chance that was missed. “Many people want to get rid of sexist language from the constitution for sure. ” People have been asking for this for a long time, and it’s finally happening with a referendum. But they suggested using a very restricted and weak rule for taking care of it instead.
Varadkar said that his team had not succeeded in convincing people that the vote was necessary, regardless of the problems with how the questions were asked. People who wanted the change and people who didn’t both said that the government didn’t explain why the change was needed or promote it strongly.
Senator said that the government did not understand what the people wanted and presented ideas that they didn’t explain well and that could have bad effects. Michael McDowell, who is not part of any political party, disagreed with both plans and said this to the Irish TV channel RTE.
Ivana Bacik, the leader of the Labour Party, said on RTE that she supported the measures, even though she had concerns about how they were written. She also said that the government did not do a very good job promoting the measures.
The debate was not as intense as the arguments about abortion and gay marriage. Ireland’s major political parties all agreed to the changes, including the centrist government partners Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, as well as the largest opposition party, Sinn Fein.
Aontu, a political group that broke away from Sinn Fein because they support legal abortion, asked people to vote against it. Aontu leader Peadar Toibin said that the government’s choice of words was unclear and will cause legal disputes. He also thinks that most people don’t understand what a durable relationship means.
Surveys showed that many people were in favor of saying “yes” in both votes. But on Friday, many voters said they didn’t understand the issue well enough to change the constitution.
Una Ui Dhuinn, a nurse in Dublin, said it was too hurried. “We didn’t have enough time to think about it and do some reading on it. I thought it would be safer to not make any changes.
Caoimhe Doyle, a student getting a doctorate, said she voted yes to change the family definition, but no to the care amendment because “I don’t think it was explained very well. ”
“She’s concerned that they’re making it so the state doesn’t have to take care of families anymore,” she said.
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Irish PM accepts loss in vote on women’s and family-related constitutional changes
