One in Four welcomes referendum wording

One in Four, the national charity which supports women and men who have experienced sexual violence today welcomed the announcement by Government of its proposed wording for a constitutional amendment on children and the publication of the 28th Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2007.

Speaking today, Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Advocacy Director said: “One in Four have repeatedly called for the rights of all children to be enshrined in our Constitution and the first provision of this proposed amendment ensures this; “The State acknowledges and affirms the natural and imprescriptible rights of all children.”

“The Ferns Report, published in October 2005, recommended that inter-agency groups be set up to ensure the protection of children and One in Four has consistently recognised that this vital child protection measure can only be put in place with a constitutional basis.”

“We welcome the proposed wording of Section 5.1 which will provide for the gathering of 'soft information'’ and consider this an essential child protection measure.” She added.