Tom Clonan: Wording of amendment was inherently Thatcherite in its ideological position

Article 42.B contained the phrase ‘by the bonds that exist between them’ asserting  that families, not the State, are primarily responsible for care

Former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher in an interview in 1987 spoke of the ‘ties that bind them’ or the duty or ‘burden’ of care that Tories believe exist within families. File picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Irish people have spoken. My principal emotion is one of relief. The great Irish public have thoroughly rejected the wording of Article 42.B on care in the family as drafted and proposed by the Government. 

Had it passed, it would have been catastrophic for citizens with disabilities and carers.