Women in the Home Referendum – March 2023

I often scan the headlines of the legacy press when looking for suitable subjects to write about. One such source is The Irish Times, which used to regard itself as being the paper of record but rather like the NY Times has revealed itself to be the paper of the new aristocracy.  Never the less, I saw a heading for an opinion piece by Sorcha Pollak, which piqued my interest. It was entitled,  ‘What changes would women make to the Constitution? Here’s what 10 said’  (IT 03 /02/24) Two things struck me when I saw this article, the first was the  list of the 10 women who would give us guidance on Constitutional changes. Now, I do feel that I have to be fair and point out that Sorcha Pollak didn’t claim that this selection represented a statistical cross section of all women in Ireland. Nor did she claim that they had to live in the real world, which means not being  employed by an NGO, in Academia or described as being an activist. The following is Sorcha’s list:

Article 41.1“The State recognises the Family, whether founded on marriage or on other durable relationships, as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law.”  Irish Times, 18/01/24

Mr. Varadkar is unhappy that the description of the family, in this Article, does not reflect the modern reality that there are other types of family unit that were not common when the Articles were originally drafted. However, there is no difficulty with the original text as it stands as it only makes the point that the family is not a creation of government but of nature. I would suggest that what the framers intended was to establish the general principle of the pre-eminence  of the family in law; that it should be supported and protected and  that it is the natural primary and fundamental unit of Society. What this proposal does is to unnecessarily introduce the concept of a “durable relationship” into the Constitution when it is quite obvious that no one knows what this means. If we accept this amendment, we will be subject to an endless series of court cases to establish what a ‘durable relationship’ is;  determined by unelected Judges, that will dilute it’s commonly understood meaning until it means everything to everyone. It is worth noting that the recent  O’Meara judgement, in respect of Social Welfare legislation, was reached under the current version of  Article 41.1. I will, temporarily, leave discussion of Article 41.1 with some suggestions on how to determine what a ‘durable relationship’ is by referring to the  Chair of Ireland’s Electoral Commission and Supreme Court Judge, Marie Baker. The Guardian reported her as saying, ‘one indicator of durability was treatment by other people. “Are you invited as a couple to weddings? Do people send your postcards, Christmas cards to both of you? These are indicators of your commitment to one another.” (The Guardian, 25/01/24) I would have thought that a joint bank account might be a better indication of durability but if the Chair of Ireland’s Electoral Commission and Supreme Court Judge says Christmas Cards, who am I to say otherwise.

Delete 41.2, which reads: “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 the neglect of their duties in the home.” Irish Times, 18/01/24

It is proposed that Article 41.2 be deleted. You can tell by all the above crossing out that those on Sorcha Pollak’s list above, are really unhappy with Article 41.2. Those that propose deleting this article take the view that it states that women’s place is in the home. Article 41.2 does not say that women should stay at home. What it does do is recognise that women are the main homebuilders and should be recognised as such. This is as true today as it was true in1937.  ‘In Sinnott v Minister for Education, Ms Justice Denham, the first female Chief Justice, wrote:

“Thus, in Ireland, in relation to the family and the home, women have a constitutionally recognised role which is acknowledged as being for the common good. This gives to women an acknowledged status in recognition not merely of the physical aspect of home making and family building, but of the emotional, social, physical, intellectual and spiritual work of women and mothers. The undefined and valuable role of the father was presumed and remained unenumerated by the drafters of the Constitution.” (Iona Institute 07/02/24)

What it does say is that Mothers, who make the choice to stay at home and raise children,  should not be forced into the workforce because of economic necessity.  Article 41.2 imposes no burden or, duty on any women who makes a different choice. It also doesn’t differentiate between traditional family structures and single parent families, which are overwhelmingly headed by women. As an aside, I did see an opinion piece that suggested that unless we deleted 41.2 we could return to the days of the marriage ban! I should mention that last year we were  celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the passage of the  Civil Service (Employment of Married Women) Act, 1973. This law reversed the 1940’s legislation that forced women to resign from public service employment, when they married. Neither the 1940’s legislation and it’s reversal 50 years ago based their arguments on Article 41.2.  I know that any retention or rewording of this Article will not cool the ire  of the proponents of this referendum. However, I am concerned that the unique contribution of woman should not be disappeared from the Constitution. We are at a time  when the very definition of a woman is a matter of dispute and I feel that there is an agenda to redefine what we once understood with certainty, with bland words of little meaning.

Article 41.3 delete the six words in Bold: “The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack.” Irish Times, 18/01/24

I am not sure that the deletion of the words, “on which the Family is founded” add anything to Article 41.3 especially since we can’t define what a family is in Article 41.1. A quick look at the the CSO table 1a, Family types in Ireland, Censuses of Population, 1996 – 2016, suggest that 66% of families are still headed by a married man and woman. This would appear to counter the claim by Leo that somehow two thirds of families are in an archaic institution that should be swept away for the sake of modernism. I am not convinced that this article  has prevented the government from supporting any other form of social unit and feel that they  have failed to justify their attack on the majority.

Article 42B The State recognises that the provision of care by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to Society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provision.” Irish Times, 18/01/24

The 40th. Amendment proposes deleting Article 41.2, which we have already discussed, with a new Article 42B. This suggested text is the epitome of bland and has deservedly been attacked by commentators on both sides of the debate. Both sides see this wording as merely vacuous with the objective of replacing 41.2 with something, almost anything. What it does accomplish, when taken with the other amendments, is to delete women, especially mothers, from special mention in the Constitution. It turns the central position of the  of the family in society to mean anything you want it to mean.

So how should we view the proposed Amendments? I suspect that  most of the population will glance at the papers and decide that it has no affect on their daily lives and ignore it. There will be some, who are irritated that Leo is tinkering with the Constitution whilst Public Services such as Health, Housing, Public Safety, Education etc are deteriorating. They may also take the view that this is a vanity project for Leo and associates to virtue signal how modern and progressive they are to their betters in Brussels and Davos. Ironically, the rush to push through the Amendments is so that an announcement of the attempt to diminish the role of women in Irish society, can be made on  International Women’s Day (8th. March). To those that identify with the above,  I would offer the following advice. If you don’t understand the point of a contract or, the terms, then employ the principle of caveat emptor or, buyer beware. If you think that these proposals deflect from serious issues facing the people of the Republic, then  send a message to the government with a resounding NO vote! My own view is, all of the above but also I put these proposals into a wider context and look at what is happening in other parts of the western world. I see a divergence between the political elites and those that they govern. If you think that we are entering into tin foil hat territory, then look around. When we see men in women’s sports in America or, that fact that it was only in 2023 that biological men were banned from women’s prisons in the UK, we can see how far we have travelled down the slippery slope. This attack on social norms, some of which predate civilisation, have been cooking for some time. I will leave you with an extract from a speech by Maria Steen, to the Iona Institute, which should also be read out on International Women’s Day:

“De Beauvoir, the renowned second-wave feminist, spoke in 1975 …. of the need to destroy the “myth of the family and the myth of maternity and of the maternal instinct”. De Beauvoir said that women should not be offered the choice of staying home to raise children, “precisely because if there is such a choice, too many women will make [it]”. In short, women needed to be forced to do what feminists see as good for them.” (Iona Institute, 07/02/24)

Send a message, vote no!

 

 

Sources

Press Release, 07/12/23, Government approves proposals for referendums on family and care, www.gov.ie/en/press-release/c9193-government-approves-proposals-for-referendums-on-family-and-care/

Rory Carroll, The Guardian, 25/01/24, Ireland kickstarts vote on constitution’s wording about women and  family.www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/25/ireland-kickstarts-vote-on-constitutions-wording-about-women-and-family

Aoife Moore, BBC, 05/12/23, Irish votes on gender and family to be held in March.

Jennifer Bray, Irish Times, 18/01/24, Women in the home referendum: what exactly does the Government want to change, and why? www.irishtimes.com/politics/2024/01/25/referendums-march-8th-explained-women-in-the-home-definition-of-family-carers-marriage-international-womens-day-ireland/

Maria Steen, Iona Institute, 07/02/24, The referendums on motherhood and the family, ionainstitute.ie/maria-steens-talk-on-the-referendum/

CSO, Family types in Ireland, Censuses of Population, 1996 – 2016, gov.ie/pdf/?file=https://assets.gov.ie/26847/fb6091d872ac48378c7c091a412df386.pdf#page=null