Irish voters keep motherhood, traditional family in constitution

 

Votes are counted in Dublin, Ireland, on March 9, 2024, after voters in the country went to the polls March 8 to decide on a pair of referendums proposing wording changes to the Irish constitution aimed at reflecting secular values. | Credit: Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

By Kate Quiñones, Shannon Mullen

CNA Newsroom, Mar 9, 2024 / 10:32 am

By wide margins, voters in Ireland rejected proposed changes to the country's constitution that would have broadened the definition of family and removed language about the social value of women within the home.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Saturday that voters had delivered “two wallops” to the government, which had pushed for a "Yes" vote on a pair of March 8 referendums.

“Clearly we got it wrong,” he 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.”

Nearly 68% of voters rejected the so-called “Family Amendment,” which would have removed a clause about the importance of marriage and family to society from Ireland’s 1937 constitution and legally redefined “family” as either “founded on marriage or on other durable relationships.”

Read the rest: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/257046/irish-voters-keep-mothers-traditional-families-in-constitution