'Vote for a fairer Ireland': Single parent support group calls for yes vote in referendum

One Family says the wording of the Constitution excludes all families which are not married, denies them the same rights and is a situation that is far removed from Ireland in 2024. File picture: AP /Rick Rycroft

A woman who gave birth as an unmarried mother in 1972 claims she had “no knowledge of the discrimination enshrined in the Constitution” against her, as she called for Yes votes in the upcoming referenda.

“We rightly, although belatedly, want equality in our constitution for ourselves and our children,” Mary Kerrigan said at the launch of One Family’s campaign for Yes votes in March.

“As well as for all the hundreds of thousands of children born in the decades since to parents who are not married to each other, all left out of our most important State document.” 

On March 8, the Irish public will go to the polls to vote on the proposals for the 39th and 40th amendment to the Constitution.

The first would amend Article 41 of the Constitution to provide for a wider concept of family, where the Constitution currently says marriage is the institution “on which the family is founded”.

If the public votes yes, this would be expanded and the words “whether founded on marriage or on other durable relationships” would be introduced in reference to the “Family” in Article 41.

Secondly, Article 41.2 would be deleted and replaced under a Yes vote. This article refers to the role of women in the home and says the State shall “endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home”.

This would be replaced by a new provision that recognises the care that members of a family can give to one another.

One Family, a charity which provides support to one-parent families, said the upcoming referenda provided a “unique opportunity to end the exclusion of children, parents and couples in unmarried families” from the Irish Constitution.

It argued the wording of the Constitution excludes all families which are not married, denies them the same rights and is a situation that is far removed from Ireland in 2024, pointing to CSO statistics that showed more than 40% of children born in Ireland now are born outside of marriage or civil partnerships.

Its chief executive Karen Kiernan said: “Our Constitution belongs to all of us, and it should reflect the realities of our lives today and in society. Many of us in every school, workplace and family in Ireland are from ‘unconstitutional families’.

Even if we’re not personally affected now, it’s so important to go out and vote for a fairer Ireland and to show support to others who need it 

Dr Fergus Ryan, head of the school of law and criminology at Maynooth University, said that the lack of legal recognition is "not simply a technical matter". 

“It reflects the historic and frankly brutal manner in which relationships and births outside of marriage were treated in the past. It stands as a stark reminder of the past and shameful stigmatisation of non-marital births.” 

Ms Kerrigan, who volunteered for 15 years with One Family precursor Cherish, urged the public to vote in favour of the change to the Constitution. “Give unmarried parents and all our children the constitutional protection we deserve,” she added.

The proposed amendments to the Constitution are set to debated in the Houses of the Oireachtas when the new term begins this week, ahead of the referenda to be held in March.