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A COALITION OF non-governmental organisations has written to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar calling on him to publish the proposed new wording for the ‘women in the home’ clause in the Irish Constitution.
The group said that unless the proposed wording is published as soon as possible, there will not be enough to allow for a national conversation on the matter to take place before the referendum.
The Government has signalled its intention to hold a referendum later this year on a proposal to insert a gender equality and non-discrimination principle into the Constitution.
In the open letter to the Taoiseach this week, Family Carers Ireland, One Family, the National Women’s Council (NWC), SIPTU and Treoir (the national federation of services for unmarried parents and their families) noted that the wording was expected by mid-May but that this deadline has now passed.
The letter said that without knowing the exact wording, it will be “increasingly difficult to build a civil society response” and said this is unfair to the families and people directly impacted.
It added:
We hope the delay does not signal a government backtrack.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said last month that he still expects the referendum to take place in November despite some “difficulty agreeing on the wording.”
At the time, he pointed out that there are two key issues at play: the wording in the Constitution that says the family is founded on marriage and the clause relating to the role of women in the home.
Director of the National Women’s Council, Orla O’Connor, said this week that she is concerned about the proposed timeline for the referendum.
She said it is important to amend the “restrictive language” on women’s role in society used in the Constitution so that it “reflects the value of care and everyone’s role in care” across society.
Likewise, Ethel Buckley, deputy general secretary of the trade Union SIPTU said such a national conversation on the definition of family, the role of women in society and the recognition of care both in the home and community deserves time.
Ireland’s organisation for people parenting alone, One Family said that this referendum will be an opportunity to offer recognition to families who “have been mistreated over the years”.
The organisation’s CEO, said that there are families living in Ireland now who are not recognised as such in our Constitution, who have “been waiting years for recognition”.
She said the Government owes it to them to publish wording as soon as possible before the referendum.
Adding to this, Catherine Cox, the head of communications and policy at Family Carers Ireland, said a referendum to include wording in the Constitution that recognises the societal value of care in the home and wider community and obliges the State to take measures to support family carers, is a “milestone moment in our history”.
In 2021, the Citizens’ Assembly on gender equality recommended the deletion and replacement of Article 41.2 of the Constitution.
This article states:
In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.
The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to neglect of their duties in the home.
Along with the removal of Article 41.2, the assembly recommended amending Article 41, which recognises the family as the natural and fundamental unit group of society as a moral institution.
The assembly said the family should not be limited to the marital family. It also suggests inserting a new clause into Article 40, which centres on Fundamental Rights to refer explicitly to gender equality and non-discrimination.
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Nothing to do with that peaceful religion of course.
Probably America’s fault scipio because of the Malian governments improved relationship with western nations, well from the tin foil hat brigade anyway?.
The fact is westerners in any predominately Islamic nation can often be taking their lives in their own hands, you don’t know when or where these Islamofacist nut jobs are going to strike next, but strike they will.
Look guys, we know you hate the religion of islam, but you could at least wait for further info before you spout your hatred.
And remember if someone blatantly hated the jewish religion like you two hate islam, we know what they would be called.
….There’s murder on the dance floor…you better not kill the groove….
Once a bigot always a bigot eh Scipio? Let’s condemn Austrian Protestants for the actions of Northern Loalist murder gangs. Let’s judge ALL Christians by the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church, let’s judge ALL Jews by the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians. Let’s blame ALL secularists for the actions of Hitler & Stalin. Is that how we should work this? So called Islamic Fundamentalists have killed more Shi’ia Muslims than any other religious group but hey, according to Scipio we should blame all Shi’as too! It’s about as logical as blaming German Jews for Nazism because they are German!
Scipio doesn’t want shades or a nuanced view, everything is black and white. Muslims bad, everyone else good.
The useful idiots are out this evening I see defending the Jihadis. I’m sure they’ll return the favour.
and they call the likes of scipio a bigot?, when he like me thinks the spread of this Islamic disease will have my grand children cursing me!.
Wiiliam some people won’t realise until it’s too late and they’re jizya paying dhimmis.
Ten Major I judge the actions of jihadists by the prophet they wish to emulate, not by ridiculous comparisons to completely different religions, and this and the actions of the likes of Isis is completely in tune with his teachings.
It’s clear from both of your comments that you’re a self-loathing western hating apologist for Islamic terrorism. It must be hard to look in the mirror.
I neither condone nor support the likes of ISIS, how you come to that conclusion is beyond me. They are an anathema to me. My whole point is not to blame different religions or it’s followers for the sins of others who may even claim to speak for them. You may enjoy sitting god like and judging entire swathes of humanity based on the actions of some insane group of fanatics but I don’t.
I would never make a Jew unwelcome because of the actions of the IDF, no more than I would make a Muslim feel unwelcome for the actions of some crazy group like ISIS. I am also educated enough to know that Judaism has many aspects, so too does Islam. That said I am suspicious of all religious groupings, especially Monotheistic ones.
Something tell me you would never be called a self loather among your colleagues.
All I do know for certain is that the only troops on the ground fighting ISIS are The Kurds, Hezbollah, Medhi Army in Iraq and the army of the Syrian state.Where is the religion of peace (Christianity) in all this? Ten to fifteen thousand meters above it all at best and then almost exclusively over Iraq.
The defenders of civilisation are an unlikely, odd and disparate group to say the least.
You should have mentioned in your piece that the Irish Defence Forces are deployed to Mali in small numbers.
They are there as part of an EU training mission working with the British Army to train the local army.
One Irish officer is in Bamako attached to the mission HQ, the others are 100k away at a training camp.
Your reporter should check that they are safe, if they are on a heightened security alert, and the effect this attack will have on the mission, if any.
I was actually drinking in that place two weeks ago.
that would be asking the journal staff to do some work and not just redistribute articles from other news agencies.
I wonder who’s responsible….
Isn’t it bad enough that our army is collaborating with an organisation that was involved in the murder of hundreds of unarmed Irish men, women and children either directly or by their trained proxies but you want to highlight that shame?
Dear oh dear, I am all for peace and reconciliation and close ties with our nearest neighbour but not with their military which has colluded in murder and cover up so much, all with in living memory. Some of these thugs are still serving in high rank. The British army’s record in ‘training’ armies and militias (murder gangs) is horrific compared to our army’s proud and excellent record in peace keeping.
Cowardly murderers who are muslim
@Buckwheat MacMillan. Verey well put. I couln’t agree with you more.
Mali is far but Clongriffin is near. Focus here because this is where the “Fighters in Allah’s Cause” will be born,- bank-rolled by govt. of Qatar who is chief enabler of Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas/ISIS/ETC.
And below is a quote from Mohammed’s war manual.
Volume 4, Book 52, Number 196 :
Narrated by Abu Huraira
Allah ‘s Apostle said, ” I have been ordered to fight with the people till they say, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,’ and whoever says, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah,’ his life and property will be saved by me except for Islamic law, and his accounts will be with Allah, (either to punish him or to forgive him.)”
have your say