The National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) has today, January 25, launched its YES YES campaign ahead of the family and care referendums to be held on March 8 this year. The referendums will see two constitutional amendments being proposed for Irish citizens to vote on. 

The first vote which relates to the family will consider article 41.1.1, which currently reads: “In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved,” and article 41.3.1: “The State shall, therefore, 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.”

The proposed amendments would see the insertion of the words “whether founded on marriage or on other durable relationships” into article 41.11.1 and the removal of the words “on which the Family is founded” from article 41.3.1.

The second vote relates to the duty of care and the role of women in the home. Specifically, Article 41.2.1, which currently reads: “In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved,” and Article 41.2.2: “The State shall, therefore, 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.”

The proposed amendment would see both articles being removed in favour of a new one, Article 42B, which would recognise the care given by any member of a family, irrespective of gender. It would additionally place an onus upon the State to support such caregiving. 

It would read: “The State recognises that the provision of care, by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to Society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provision.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by National Women’s Council (@national_womens_council_irl)

Today’s campaign launch, held at Dublin’s Mansion House, highlighted the NWCI’s call for a double Yes vote to the upcoming referendums. 

Catherine Day, the chair of the 2019-2021 Citizens Assembly on Gender Equality, introduced the five esteemed speakers who included, historian Dr Mary McAuliffe, activist Dr Ailbhe Smyth, Sunday Independent journalist Lorcan Nyhan, Information and Policy Officer with Treoir Gayle Smith, and NCWI Director Orla ​​O’Connor. 

In her opening address, Day described how the referendum had come about as a direct result of the citizen’s assembly but that the proposed wording had not gone as far as hoped. However, she still believed that it was a step in the right direction and urged all in attendance to support a yes vote.

The great @ailbhes addresses a room full of feminists at the launch of the @NWCI campaign for a YES YES vote in the March 8th referendum. #VoteYesYes pic.twitter.com/IR5AKyu21K

— Bernie Linnane ?️‍⚧️ (@Berlinnaeus) January 25, 2024

Dr Smyth described how the existing wording of the Constitution had impacted her personally, both as a parent and in her career. 

She stated, “Article 41.2 is a relic of a profoundly patriarchal and narrowly catholic view of the world which bears no relation to contemporary Irish society. Women have spent the best part of a century protesting and campaigning against a world view in which men occupied the public sphere and women were confined to a life of domesticity.” 

She continued, “We have roundly and successfully rejected that view in social movements, referendums and in our laws. It does not align with our values and it most certainly does not reflect the realities of women’s lives today.  In fact, it never did. 

“The offensive misogyny of Art.42.1 shaped attitudes and behaviours towards women for far too long, and our lives have been scarred and restricted as a consequence. We have had to fight tooth and nail for every inch of our equality, and we won’t stop now.” 

She concluded, “We are not the Ireland of that dinosauric past, we are modern Ireland and we believe in equality for women and men; we believe in an Ireland that values care and puts a greater obligation on the State to support that care. We believe in equality for all families whether or not they are based in marriage. And we can demonstrate that with a Yes Yes vote on March 8th.”

More information about the NWCI’s YES YES campaign for the 2024 referendums can be found on its website here.