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Ireland votes to liberalise divorce laws after referendum Ireland votes to liberalise divorce laws after referendum
(about 2 hours later)
Ireland has voted by an overwhelming majority to relax its constitutional restriction on divorce, results showed, the latest in a series of reforms to modernise the charter of the once devoutly Catholic nation. Ireland has voted to ease restrictions on divorce by an overwhelming majority, continuing the country’s social liberalisation.
Eighty-two per cent of voters cast their ballots in favour of removing a provision requiring couples to live separately for four out of the previous five years before dissolving their marriage. Voters approved a constitutional referendum by 1,384,192 yes votes (82.1%) to 302,319 no votes (17.9%), one of the largest referendum margins in the country’s history, it was announced on Sunday.
The Irish government has signalled it will bring forward legislation shortening the requirement to two out of the prior three years. All 31 constituencies endorsed the change in a turnout of 50.89% in Friday’s poll, which also included local and European elections.
At present, Irish divorce law is regarded as among the most restrictive in Europe. It is thought to be responsible for the republic having the lowest separation rate of any EU member state, according to 2015 figures from the country’s Central Statistics Office. Green party candidates surged in early local election results, which surprised the party and its rivals. The taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said the public had sent a “clear message” to the government to act faster on climate change.
The outcome of Friday’s referendum will also lead to Irish lawmakers being granted powers to recognise foreign divorces once it is signed into law by the president. The referendum proposed amending two articles in the constitution to facilitate recognition of foreign divorces and to reduce the amount of time couples needed to live apart from four years to two before qualifying for divorce.
The mandated separation period was a hangover condition from the 1995 referendum that granted Irish couples the right to divorce by a slim majority of 50.3%. Campaigners said the liberalisation would reduce the financial and emotional cost of divorce.
Campaigners said it placed an unfair emotional and financial burden on couples and families at a time when Irish rental and property prices are rising. “This was not about rocking the system, it was about humanising the system,” said Josepha Madigan, the culture minister, who led the government’s referendum campaign.
The result of the vote comes one year on from the day when 66% of voters cast referendum ballots in favour of repealing the republic’s constitutional ban on abortion. Charlie Flanagan, the justice and equality minister, welcomed the fact that the Oireachtas – the legislature – could now tweak divorce rules. “Over time, it has become very clear that complex questions of social policy are best dealt with through detailed legislation in the Oireachtas.”
While the result of that vote was hailed by crowds in jubilant scenes in Dublin Castle, Sunday’s result was announced without fanfare. The south Dublin constituency of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had the highest yes vote, 86.7%. The lowest yes vote, in Monaghan bordering Northern Ireland, was still emphatic: 75.04%.
In October last year, voters also chose to lift a rarely enforced – and often ridiculed – constitutional ban on blasphemy. A further referendum to excise or alter the constitutional article referring to the “woman’s life within the home” is expected to be brought forward soon. Ireland, once a bastion of conservative Catholicism, voted last year to legalise abortion and voted in 2015 to legalise same-sex marriage.
The turnout in the referendum, which took place alongside EU elections, was 51%. In the local election, Green party candidates won more than 7% of first preference votes – a rebound from obliteration in the last election five years ago – and topped the polls in many constituencies, catching analysts and other parties off guard. The Greens may win up to 100 of the 949 seats.
The party benefited from mounting concern over climate change and biodiversity loss and recent protests led by young people.
Fianna Fáil, a centrist opposition party, was on track to remain the biggest party in local government, followed by Fine Gael, the ruling party, led by Varadkar.
The biggest loser from the green wave appeared to be Sinn Féin, which was on course to lose council seats across Ireland.
European election results were due to be announced later on Sunday and Monday.
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