 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
To remove the constitutional prohibition on divorce | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
 Results by Dáil constituency | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1995 (previously bill no. 15 of 1995) is an amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which removed the constitutional prohibition on divorce, and allowed for the dissolution of a marriage provided specified conditions were satisfied. It was approved by referendum on 24 November 1995 and signed into law on 17 June 1996.
The Constitution of Ireland adopted in 1937 included a ban on divorce. An attempt by the Fine Gael–Labour Party government in 1986 to amend this provision was rejected in a referendum by 63.5% to 36.5%.
In 1989, the Dail passed the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act, which allowed Irish courts to recognize legal separation. The government made other legislative changes to address the issues identified in that referendum campaign, including the social welfare and pension rights of divorced spouses, which were copper fastened, and the abolition of the status of illegitimacy to remove any distinction between the rights of the children of first and subsequent unions. [1]
Shortly before its collapse, the 1989–1992 government published a white paper on marriage breakdown, which proposed "to have a referendum on divorce after a full debate on the complex issues involved and following the enactment of other legislative proposals in the area of family law". [2]
In 1995, the Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left government of John Bruton proposed a new amendment to allow for divorce in specified circumstances.
The Fifteenth Amendment deleted the following Article 41.3.2° of the Constitution:
2° No law shall be enacted providing for the grant of a dissolution of marriage.
and substituted that subsection with the following:
2° A Court designated by law may grant a dissolution of marriage where, but only where, it is satisfied that –
- i. at the date of the institution of the proceedings, the spouses have lived apart from one another for a period of, or periods amounting to, at least four years during the previous five years,
- ii. there is no reasonable prospect of a reconciliation between the spouses,
- iii. such provision as the Court considers proper having regard to the circumstances exists or will be made for the spouses, any children of either or both of them and any other person prescribed by law, and
- iv. any further conditions prescribed by law are complied with.
The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution (No. 2) Bill 1995 was proposed in the Dáil on 27 October 1995 by Minister for Equality and Law Reform Mervyn Taylor. [3] An amendment was proposed by Helen Keogh on behalf of the Progressive Democrats which would have allowed for legislation generally, without the restrictions proposed in the government's proposal:
2° Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, a Court designated by law may grant a dissolution of marriage where it is satisfied that all the conditions prescribed by law are complied with.
This amendment was rejected and the Bill passed final stages by the Dáil without division on 11 October. [4] It was passed by the Seanad on 18 October and proceed to a referendum on 24 November 1995. [5]
The Catholic Church was strongly against the amendment, but stated that Catholics could vote for the amendment in good conscience, and that it would not be a sin to do so. [6]
In the run-up to the vote the No Campaign used the now-infamous [7] [8] slogan "Hello Divorce, Bye Bye Daddy" [9] which was criticised for being manipulative and irresponsible.
Justin Barrett was the spokesman for the Youth Against Divorce campaign. In later years, Barrett himself sought a divorce in 2016. [10]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
 Yes | 818,842 | 50.28 |
| No | 809,728 | 49.72 |
| Valid votes | 1,628,570 | 99.67 |
| Invalid or blank votes | 5,372 | 0.33 |
| Total votes | 1,633,942 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 2,628,834 | 62.15 |
| Referendum results (excluding invalid votes) | |
|---|---|
| Yes 818,842 (50.3%) | No 809,728 (49.7%) |
| ▲ 50% | |
| Constituency | Electorate | Turnout (%) | Votes | Proportion of votes | ± Yes 1986 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | Yes | No | ||||
| Carlow–Kilkenny | 84,365 | 64.2% | 24,651 | 29,283 | 45.7% | 54.3% | +13.9% |
| Cavan–Monaghan | 80,970 | 59.1% | 17,817 | 29,787 | 37.4% | 62.6% | +10.0% |
| Clare | 67,829 | 59.4% | 17,576 | 22,577 | 43.8% | 56.2% | +12.2% |
| Cork East | 60,995 | 65.8% | 17,287 | 22,748 | 43.2% | 56.8% | +13.7% |
| Cork North-Central | 69,936 | 61.9% | 20,110 | 23,050 | 46.6% | 53.4% | +16.1% |
| Cork North-West | 45,938 | 67.0% | 10,409 | 20,264 | 33.9% | 66.1% | +13.0% |
| Cork South-Central | 79,270 | 68.0% | 28,433 | 25,360 | 52.9% | 47.1% | +15.3% |
| Cork South-West | 46,046 | 64.9% | 11,755 | 18,034 | 39.5% | 60.5% | +12.6% |
| Donegal North-East | 49,473 | 51.9% | 10,401 | 15,219 | 40.6% | 59.4% | +14.0% |
| Donegal South-West | 50,208 | 51.1% | 10,450 | 15,109 | 40.9% | 59.1% | +10.7% |
| Dublin Central | 59,215 | 57.3% | 19,378 | 14,474 | 57.2% | 42.8% | +18.1% |
| Dublin North | 68,512 | 66.5% | 29,704 | 15,756 | 65.3% | 34.7% | +14.7% |
| Dublin North-Central | 64,070 | 69.0% | 25,721 | 18,415 | 58.3% | 41.7% | +14.3% |
| Dublin North-East | 58,595 | 66.9% | 25,360 | 13,714 | 64.9% | 35.1% | +13.9% |
| Dublin North-West | 56,469 | 63.2% | 21,628 | 13,942 | 60.8% | 39.2% | +13.2% |
| Dublin South | 87,565 | 70.0% | 39,454 | 21,723 | 64.5% | 35.5% | +10.1% |
| Dublin South-Central | 60,825 | 64.3% | 22,839 | 16,131 | 58.6% | 41.4% | +13.1% |
| Dublin South-East | 63,830 | 60.3% | 24,901 | 13,493 | 64.9% | 35.1% | +11.1% |
| Dublin South-West | 73,109 | 61.0% | 29,767 | 14,769 | 66.8% | 33.2% | +13.3% |
| Dublin West | 63,487 | 62.4% | 25,811 | 13,697 | 65.3% | 34.7% | +16.5% |
| Dún Laoghaire | 89,160 | 67.6% | 41,028 | 19,121 | 68.2% | 31.8% | +9.4% |
| Galway East | 43,768 | 59.0% | 9,003 | 16,730 | 35.0% | 65.0% | +11.8% |
| Galway West | 83,513 | 56.8% | 22,977 | 24,261 | 48.6% | 51.4% | +11.7% |
| Kerry North | 49,762 | 58.5% | 11,848 | 17,131 | 40.9% | 59.1% | +13.9% |
| Kerry South | 45,849 | 58.4% | 10,203 | 16,456 | 38.3% | 61.7% | +14.2% |
| Kildare | 82,825 | 61.7% | 29,397 | 21,592 | 57.7% | 42.3% | +12.7% |
| Laois–Offaly | 81,078 | 63.0% | 20,426 | 30,467 | 40.1% | 59.9% | +13.5% |
| Limerick East | 73,956 | 62.9% | 23,184 | 23,140 | 50.0% | 50.0% | +14.9% |
| Limerick West | 46,069 | 62.7% | 10,617 | 18,159 | 36.9% | 63.1% | +12.0% |
| Longford–Roscommon | 61,920 | 61.3% | 13,333 | 24,477 | 35.3% | 64.7% | |
| Louth | 68,809 | 62.0% | 22,004 | 20,516 | 51.7% | 48.3% | +15.9% |
| Mayo East | 44,366 | 56.3% | 9,243 | 15,621 | 37.2% | 62.8% | +12.9% |
| Mayo West | 45,745 | 55.3% | 10,455 | 14,764 | 41.5% | 58.5% | +15.1% |
| Meath | 83,655 | 59.6% | 23,790 | 25,861 | 47.9% | 52.1% | +16.2% |
| Sligo–Leitrim | 62,116 | 59.0% | 15,034 | 21,490 | 41.2% | 58.8% | +11.7% |
| Tipperary North | 43,958 | 65.6% | 11,020 | 17,699 | 38.4% | 61.6% | +12.8% |
| Tipperary South | 58,502 | 64.1% | 15,798 | 21,557 | 42.3% | 57.7% | +15.1% |
| Waterford | 66,132 | 62.0% | 20,305 | 20,508 | 49.8% | 50.2% | +16.7% |
| Westmeath | 46,900 | 60.1% | 11,704 | 16,353 | 41.7% | 58.3% | |
| Wexford | 79,445 | 62.1% | 23,850 | 25,305 | 48.5% | 51.5% | +17.8% |
| Wicklow | 80,599 | 63.7% | 30,171 | 20,975 | 59.0% | 41.0% | +12.1% |
| Total | 2,628,834 | 62.2% | 818,842 | 809,728 | 50.3% | 49.7% | +13.8% |
The '± Yes 1986' column shows the percentage point change in the Yes vote compared to the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill on a similar proposal rejected in a referendum in 1986.
During the referendum, government funds were used to advertise in favour of a 'Yes' vote. One week before the referendum, Patricia McKenna, a Green Party MEP, successfully lodged a complaint against the government with the Supreme Court, and the advertising stopped. [1] This Supreme Court decision led to legislation that would establish a Referendum Commission for each referendum, commencing with the Eighteenth Amendment in 1998.
The returning officer submitted a provisional certificate of the result of the referendum in the High Court as required by the Referendum Act 1994. [12] [13]
According to The Irish Times , "the polls taken at the time showed that, if anything, the end of the advertising campaign coincided with a halt in the slide of support for divorce". [13] Because of the use of Government funds for one side of the campaign, a petition against the result was lodged by Des Hanafin, a Fianna Fáil Senator and chairman of the Pro Life Campaign, which was dismissed by the High Court on 9 February 1996. [13] [1] Hanafin appealed to the Supreme Court, which in June upheld the High Court decision. The High Court then endorsed the provisional certificate on 14 June 1996. [13] President Mary Robinson signed the amendment bill into law three days later.
Before the referendum, a draft Family Law (Divorce) Bill was published to illustrate how the Constitutional provisions would be implemented if the amendment were passed. Once the Constitutional amendment came into force, the divorce bill was introduced in the Oireachtas on 27 June 1996 [14] and signed into law on 27 November 1996. [15] This gave effect in primary legislation to the new Constitutional provisions. Although this act, the Family Law (Divorce) Act, 1996, specified its own commencement date as 27 February 1997, [16] the first divorce was granted on 17 January 1997, based solely on the constitutional amendment, to a dying man who wanted urgently to marry his new partner. [17]
The Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was approved in a referendum held in May 2019, and removed the constitutional requirement for parties to be living apart before a divorce. It also altered the provisions in Article 41.3.3° on the recognition of foreign divorce.
The Constitution of Ireland is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the tradition of liberal democracy. It guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected non-executive president, a bicameral parliament, a separation of powers and judicial review.
The Constitution of the Irish Free State was adopted by Act of Dáil Éireann sitting as a constituent assembly on 25 October 1922. In accordance with Article 83 of the Constitution, the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922 of the British Parliament, which came into effect upon receiving the royal assent on 5 December 1922, provided that the Constitution would come into effect upon the issue of a Royal Proclamation, which was done on 6 December 1922. In 1937 the Constitution of the Irish Free State was replaced by the modern Constitution of Ireland following a referendum.
The Minister for Labour was originally a position in the Government of the Irish Republic, the self-declared state which was established in 1919 by Dáil Éireann, the parliamentary assembly made up of the majority of Irish MPs elected in the 1918 general election. Constance Markievicz was the first person to hold the post. The office did not continue into the Executive Council of the Irish Free State.
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1972 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which lowered the voting age for all national elections and referendums in the state from twenty-one to eighteen years of age. It was approved by referendum on 7 December 1972 and signed into law on 5 January 1973.
The Seventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 1979 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland that provides that the procedure for the election of six members of the Senate in the university constituencies could be altered by law. It was approved by referendum on 5 July 1979 and signed into law on 3 August of the same year.
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1983 was an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which inserted a subsection recognising "the equal right to life of the pregnant woman and the unborn". Abortion had been subject to criminal penalty in Ireland since at least 1861; the amendment ensured that legislation or judicial interpretation would be restricted to allowing abortion in circumstances where the life of a pregnant woman was at risk. It was approved by referendum on 7 September 1983 and signed into law on 7 October 1983. In 2018, it was repealed by referendum.
The Ninth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1984 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland that allowed for the extension of the right to vote in elections to Dáil Éireann to non-Irish citizens. It was approved by referendum on 14 June 1984, the same day as the European Parliament election, and signed into law on 2 August of the same year.
The Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1996 is an amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which provides that a court can refuse bail to a suspect where it feared that while at liberty they would commit a serious criminal offence. It was approved by referendum on 28 November 1996 and signed into law on 12 December of the same year.
The Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2001 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which provided constitutional recognition of local government and required that local government elections occur at least once in every five years. It was approved by referendum on 11 June 1999 and signed into law on 23 June of the same year. The referendum was held the same day as the local and European Parliament elections.
Amendments to the Constitution of Ireland are only possible by way of referendum. A proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland must first be passed as a bill by both Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament), then submitted to a referendum, and finally signed into law by the President of Ireland. Since the constitution entered into force on 29 December 1937, there have been 32 amendments to the constitution.
An ordinary referendum in Ireland is a referendum on a bill other than a bill to amend the Constitution. The Constitution prescribes the process in Articles 27 and 47. Whereas a constitutional referendum is mandatory for a constitutional amendment bill, an ordinary referendum occurs only if the bill "contains a proposal of such national importance that the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained". This is decided at the discretion of the President, after a petition by Oireachtas members including a majority of Senators. No such petition has ever been presented, and thus no ordinary referendum has ever been held.
The Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1992 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which specified that the protection of the right to life of the unborn did not limit the right to distribute information about services in foreign countries. It was one of three referendums on abortion held on 25 November 1992. It was approved and signed into law on 23 December of the same year.
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1968 was a bill to amend the Constitution of Ireland to alter the electoral system for elections to Dáil Éireann, the house of representatives of the Oireachtas, from proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (PR-STV) to first-past-the-post (FPTP). It was one of two referendums on the elections held on 16 October 1968, the other being a proposal to allow a greater variance in representation. Both bills were rejected.
The Tenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1986 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Ireland to remove the prohibition on divorce. The proposal was rejected in a referendum on 26 June 1986. It was the first of two referendums held in Ireland on the question of divorce; the Fifteenth Amendment in 1995 allowed for divorce under specified conditions.
Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas, which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann.
The Twenty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2011 is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which relaxes the previous prohibition on the reduction of the salaries of Irish judges. It was approved by a referendum on 27 October 2011 signed into law on 17 November 2011. It was held on the same day as a referendum on Oireachtas Inquiries, which was rejected, and the presidential election at which Michael D. Higgins was elected.
The Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2011 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of Ireland to provide for the Houses of the Oireachtas to conduct full inquiries. The bill was passed by both houses of the Oireachtas, but rejected at a referendum held on 27 October 2011.
The Thirty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Act 2012 amended the Constitution of Ireland by inserting clauses relating to children's rights and the right and duty of the state to take child protection measures. It was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament) on 10 October 2012, and approved at a referendum on 10 November 2012, by 58% of voters on a turnout of 33.5%. Its enactment was delayed by a High Court case challenging the conduct of the referendum. The High Court's rejection of the challenge was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 24 April 2015. It was signed into law by the President on 28 April 2015.
The 24th government of Ireland was the government formed after the Labour Party had left its previous coalition with Fianna Fáil two years into the 27th Dáil. It was a coalition of Fine Gael, with leader John Bruton as Taoiseach, Labour, with Dick Spring as Tánaiste, and Democratic Left, led by Proinsias De Rossa, known as the Rainbow Coalition. It is the only time to date that a new government was formed within the same Dáil term composed of a different coalition of parties. The 24th government lasted 925 days.
The Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which altered the provisions regulating divorce. It removed the constitutional requirement for a defined period of separation before a Court may grant a dissolution of marriage, and eased restrictions on the recognition of foreign divorces. The amendment was effected by an act of the Oireachtas, the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2019.
