Fergus Finlay: Raise a glass to 30 years of divorce in Ireland

Mervyn Taylor was the most hard-working and diffident minister I've ever known — it's thanks to his hard work that thousands of people have been freed from miserable marriages since 1995

Voting at St Mary’s NS in Dublin during the 1995 divorce referendum. Picture: Getty Images

 It’s annoying me that I didn’t organise a party or at least raise a glass. Last week was the 30th anniversary of a momentous day, a day that achieved several crucial things. We, the people, started a movement towards greater openness and generosity in Ireland. We ended suffering and stigma for an awful lot of people. We confounded a certain type of critic and may have eroded their influence for a long time into the future.

Thirty years ago this past week, Ireland passed the divorce referendum. I didn’t celebrate at the time, even though I was one of the leaders in the campaign. There were two reasons. First of all, I had no idea that campaign would be the first of many progressive and welcome changes. Secondly, I was in a complete funk on the day. I was convinced we were going to lose, and I would be a fairly significant part of the reason we failed.