Children’s rights - Constitution must cherish our children

THE much-bandied phrase “cherishing all the children of the nation equally” comes from the Proclamation of the Irish Republic in Easter 1916.

Ninety years on, however, the rights of children have yet to be enshrined in the Constitution. But the controversy which convulsed the nation after the Supreme Court struck down the statutory rape law has injected a new sense of urgency into the debate on children’s rights.

In the 21st century, there is an irresistible case for Ireland, progressive and confident of its international standing, to honour the sentiments uttered so generously in the Proclamation.