Children’s rights vote, but not before election

THE referendum on children’s rights is unlikely to take place before the summer general election, the Taoiseach has admitted.

Speaking in Washington yesterday, Mr Ahern said there needed to be cross-party support for the wording of the constitutional amendment being proposed, but added that, to date, the Government had failed to reach agreement with the Opposition on the issue.

The referendum couldn’t be held “unless everybody agrees, and we’re not at that position at the moment,” he said.