Ireland's unexpected rejection of constitutional amendments on family and women's roles

The referendum addressed amendments no. 39 and no. 40 to the constitution. The former pertained to altering the wording of Articles 41.1 and 41.3 of the constitution. The proposal suggested changing the phrase "the state recognizes the family as a natural, primary, and fundamental social unit" to "the state recognizes the family, whether based on marriage or another lasting relationship, as a natural, primary, and fundamental social unit," and to remove "upon which the family is based" from the fragment, "the state pledges to guard with special care the institution of marriage, upon which the family is based, and protect it from attacks."

Amendment no. 40 aimed to revise the content of Article 41.2, which declares "the state recognizes that by her life within the home, the woman gives the state a support without which the common good cannot be achieved" and "mothers shall not be obliged through economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home." The proposed change involved removing these parts and substituting them with "the state recognizes that the provision of care by family members for each other due to the existing bonds provides society with support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and will strive to support such provision."

According to the results announced on Saturday evening, 32.3 percent of the referendum voters supported amendment no. 39, and 67.7 percent were against it, with a turnout of 44.4 percent. Full voting results for amendment no. 40 are not yet available, but partial results indicate that it was rejected by a similar ratio of votes; moreover, the government has already admitted its defeat in this matter as well.

The results came as a significant surprise because all the polls had indicated that both amendments would be easily accepted - about half of the respondents declared support for them, and one quarter were against. The presence of a sizable number of undecided voters, along with the likelihood of low turnout — which usually favours opponents of changes — had also been noted.

Even before the final results were announced, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who expressed his desire to remove "sexist" and "outdated" phrases from the constitution, acknowledged the complete defeat of both amendments at what he described as a commendable turnout.

"It was our duty to persuade the majority of people to vote 'yes,' and clearly, we did not succeed," Varadkar stated. Almost all parties represented in parliament supported the adoption of both amendments, while the Irish Catholic Church called for their rejection.

In Ireland, any change to the constitution, which dates back to 1937, must be approved in a referendum.