Children’s rights groups welcome referendum plan
However, they say it will be an opportunity lost if it only uses the referendum to close loopholes created by the Mr A case.
Their concern is that the wording of the referendum will fall short of the sweeping reforms for which they have fought. Delivering his speech, An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern did not propose any potential wording and evasively referred to both child protection based change and the more significant rights of the child approach.
Paul Gilligan, chief executive of the Irish Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said anything short of enshrining children’s rights would be disappointing.
He said: “If we get to the stage where we are having a referendum on children let’s not blow it.
“The key thing will be if the Government intends to include a specific statement on children’s rights that stands alone from the rights of the family.”
The two extreme wording possibilities are:
* Minimalist child protection reform to shore up unlawful carnal knowledge loopholes flowing from the Mr A Supreme Court case.
* A more dramatic children’s rights reform to make children’s interests paramount in all scenarios and end the dominant sanctity of the family in Irish law.
Jillian van Turnhout, chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, said the move was a significant development in the debate.
She said: “The Government now has to sit down with all the NGOs and work out with the other parties the wording of any referendum. At this stage I am very happy.”
Yesterday’s announcement comes three days before Barnardo’s kicks off its campaign to enshrine children’s rights in the constitution.
Its campaigns manager, Fiona Ryan, said “We are very happy with this news. From our perspective it strengthens our campaign. But at the moment there is no timeline and there is no wording and we would hope the wording we will put forward on Monday will play a significant part in the debate.”
