Having regard for our children

LAST Tuesday, I wrote that the acid test of the wording of the constitutional amendment on children would be the extent to which the Government fulfilled its promise to follow the 2010 proposal made by an Oireachtas committee chaired by Mary O’Rourke.

I identified two key phrases to watch out for that might suggest a failure to fulfil this promise. One was where the State is obliged only to “have regard” to the interests of children, rather than being clearly obliged to prioritise them.

The other was where the State was only obliged to make “provision by law” for certain rights and principles, instead of stating them as constitutional principles in their own right.