Fianna Fáil TD Mary Butler claims that the UK Government should have given more support to the referendum campaigns focussing on family and care, and criticises her counterparts in the three parties. After Saturday’s referendums on the redefinition of family and the function of care were rejected by a wide margin, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar conceded that the Government had not successfully persuaded the public. He described the double defeat at the votes as “two wallops” dealt by the voting public.
The proposal to redefine the concept of family to include long-term relationships, in addition to marriage, was rejected by nearly 68% of voters. Also soundly rejected was the proposal to drop the traditional view of a woman’s role in the home and a mother’s home-based duties; this was substituted with the recognition of care within the family. Almost 74% of voters said “No.”
Butler claims that not all members of her government stood behind these referendums. She argues that they could have done more to support these initiatives. Butler refers to this lack of support across all three parties. She summarised the voters’ response as a “kicking”. She further mentioned that due to the government’s insufficient explanation, many people didn’t receive the certainty they needed to vote “Yes”.
She points out the blame has to be laid at the government’s door, that they didn’t do enough in executing their responsibilities. In addition, she expressed serious concern about the leak of advice from the Attorney General to The Ditch website, which she described as “absolutely scandalous”. She suggested that a social media moratorium might be necessary in response to this.
Independent TD Michael McNamara, who urged for a negative turn out in both referendums, claimed the result revealed some uncomfortable truths about how the Dáil functions.
During the recent episode of The Week on Politics on RTÉ, a prominent figure raised concerns over Dáil not living up to its constitutional role despite the numerous referendums. The same issue was echoed by Michael Collins and others who failed to garner 10 votes needed for a review on the wording of the referendum. The person criticised Sinn Féin’s refusal to support the rights to vote on this, and condemned the government’s misuse of their majority to enforce their will. They also highlighted the threat looming over a significant planning bill due to this majority. They went on to criticise the political landscape, citing party divide and conflict as the main barriers to effective legislation.
Also appearing on the program, Pippa Hackett of the Green Party admitted the votes were symbolic of a broader failure by the Yes campaign, with the government at the forefront of this failure. However, she refuted allegations of arrogance playing any role. Hackett was quick to remind that the Citizens’ Assembly was not ignored; on the contrary, the joint Oireachtas committee on gender equality adopted some of the recommendations, with Sinn Féin representation evident amongst the committee.
When inquired about the leaking scandal involving the attorney general’s counsel to the Ditch webpage, Hackett confidently assured it did not originate from the Green Party. Their party did not support such methods, she said.
Reflecting on the whole debacle, Sinn Féin TD Claire Kerrane acquiesced to her party’s miscalculation and emphasised the necessity of accepting their mistakes. The wording of the referendum was entirely the government’s choice, she noted, in spite of their calls for pre-legislative scrutiny. However, when quizzed about her party leader’s wavering commitment to rerun the referendums, Kerrane evaded a direct response and instead highlighted the importance of honouring the people’s verdict.
The conversation can be further analysed on the Inside Politics Podcast.
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