The far-left government of Ireland recently held a referendum on modifying the country’s constitution to remove amendments granting primacy to the traditional family and the significance of motherhood.
Ireland’s constitution currently says that “the State recognizes that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved,” adding that “[t]he State shall, therefore, endeavor to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to neglect of their duties in the home.”
Voters in Ireland were asked whether to remove this language from the constitution amid claims that it reinforces “patriarchal” ideas surrounding women’s role in the household. Those in favor argue that the text recognizes the value of being a stay-at-home mother and requires the government to ensure that mothers enter the workforce only as a choice.
The National Pulse reported that voters were asked to change an amendment that “recognizes the Family as the natural primacy and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law.”
The amendment forces the government “to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack.”
In the referendum, voters decided whether to modify this language to include that families are “founded on marriage or on other durable relationships,” such as same-gender unions.
High-ranking lawmakers in the Irish parliament had warned that changing the amendment could be used to increase chain migration by allowing migrants to import relatives through so-called “family reunification.”
Senator Michael McDowell, Ireland's former Attorney General, says he "rejects completely" the idea that the family referendum won't impact immigration law, and says it will be "in the interest" of "economic migrants" to mount legal challenges regarding family re-unification. pic.twitter.com/eyOjYNFDgG
— gript (@griptmedia) February 15, 2024
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar conceded defeat following the results of the referendum, of which he supported changing language in two constitutional amendments. He acknowledged that the measures would likely be rejected.
“Clearly, we got it wrong,” Varadkar said. “While the old adage is that success has many fathers and failure is an orphan, I think when you lose by this kind of margin, there are a lot of people who got this wrong and I am certainly one of them.”
The Irish constitution, ratified in 1937 when Catholic and conservative values were strong in the country, has been changed a significant number of times, having departed from the traditional ideas of the Catholic Church, instead embracing abortion, same-gender marriage and other left-wing priorities.
