(CN) — Voters in the Republic of Ireland are going to the polls today, as the government proposes two changes to the state’s constitution.
The referendums, being held on International Women’s Day, are designed to rephrase outdated language about women and families that is codified in the nation’s foundational document, which dates back to 1937. But while the modernization push has been welcomed in some quarters, others have been left frustrated by ambiguities in the updated language which they say is the result of poor drafting.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced the votes exactly a year ago in an effort to “enshrine gender equality” in the constitution. In Ireland, any changes to the constitution must be put to a national referendum.
The first vote seeks to update the definition of family. At present, the constitution refers only to marriage as a family unit recognized by the state. The proposed amendment seeks to redefine families as being “founded on marriage or on other durable relationships.”
While Varadkar argues that this will ensure the state is obliged to protect families outside of marriage, critics say the term “durable relationship” is riddled with ambiguity and likely to lead to complications in a variety of legal settings.
The second vote looks to remove wording that described mothers as having “duties in the home” which workplace commitments should not prevent them from fulfilling. Removing this text is not contentious, but the replacement text, which seeks to recognize the importance of family members in terms of care commitments, is problematic for some. Critics have said the wording excludes those who need care but lack a family unit, and places undue responsibilities on carers in the family unit.
The technical debates over the wording of the amendments has led to confusion among voters, and as a result the referendums have been plagued by general voter apathy. Despite the likely passage of both amendments, low turnout is expected, leading to a national conversation about the government’s priorities — and the extent to which the proposals have sufficient buy-in from the electorate.
Ireland’s use of referendums for constitutional reform has become a hallmark of the country's political system over the last decade, revolutionizing the state’s approach to social issues in a once deeply Catholic society.
In 2015, a referendum to permit same-sex marriage reflected a generational transformation across Ireland, passing with the support of 62% of the voting public. In 2018 the legalization of abortion — a once unthinkable proposition — garnered even greater public approval, securing 66% of the vote.
In both cases, the use of citizen’s assemblies in the early stages of the referendum process was regarded as a groundbreaking development. The assemblies — a diverse citizens group tasked with developing policies and strategies free from political considerations — were widely seen as integral in the marriage and abortion breakthroughs.
Their success in these areas has fueled greater government reliance on the approach as a way of navigating intractable political issues. Today’s referendums also emerged from those citizen’s assemblies, though political opponents of the government have claimed that excessive political interference with the assemblies' recommendations has undermined their usefulness, leading to imperfect amendments.
In the referendum on care responsibilities, for example, citizens assemblies had proposed an obligation on the state to ensure citizens had their care needs met. However, the phrase “obliged” was later altered to read that the state should “strive” to support care needs. The change opened the government to accusations that it was abdicating responsibility for people who need care, and instead passing on those duties to family members.
In addition, the government is accused of failing to take a bipartisan approach to the proposals, leading to less political unity than in other successful referendums.
Some government critics have been harsher, accusing the prime minister of taking a piecemeal and tokenistic attitude toward gender equality by prioritizing technical constitutional reform over political measures which could offer more support to carers.
Nevertheless, Varadkar insists the modernization process is long overdue, arguing that a no vote “would say to a lot of people, hundreds of thousands of people and children, that they’re not in a family as far as our constitution is concerned. And that would be a step backwards, I think.”
The votes take place in the wider context of increasing public apathy regarding the political establishment in Ireland. The present coalition government is led by the two political parties that have traditionally dominated Irish politics — Fine Gael and Fianna Fail. However, polling suggests that the Irish political scene is heading for an earthquake at next year’s general election.
Socialist party Sinn Féin, which advocates for Irish reunification, narrowly won the popular vote at the previous general election in 2020, and have been comfortably leading in the polls ever since. The prospect of a Sinn Féin government coming to power — largely on the back of public frustration over a long-running housing shortage — would represent a break with decades of established political norms.
In addition there has been a more recent and rapid rise in the popularity of independent candidates representing increasing anti-immigrant sentiment in the country. Independents now out-poll all three government parties and are rapidly closing in on Sinn Fein’s previously strong lead.
The Irish government is hoping that the dual referendum being voted on today will indicate the continued progress and modernization of a society which has undergone transformational shifts over the last decade. If polling is anything to go by, however, the Irish public is increasingly turning to new political forces, a shift fueled by a sense of political inertia, rather than social progress.
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