Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

Last updated

Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
Flag of Ireland.svg
24 May 2019 (2019-05-24)
To delete the requirement for a period of separation before proceedings for divorce could be initiated. To recognise foreign divorces
Results
Choice
Votes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svgYes1,384,19282.07%
Light brown x.svgNo302,31917.93%
Valid votes1,686,51197.65%
Invalid or blank votes40,5452.35%
Total votes1,727,056100.00%
Registered voters/turnout3,397,63650.83%
Source: referendum.ie

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. [1] The amendment was effected by an act of the Oireachtas, the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Act 2019 (introduced as bill no. 57 of 2016).

Contents

The bill as introduced did not propose the total deletion of a waiting period from the Constitution, merely a reduction in the required term. After amendments by the Oireachtas, the bill was put to a referendum on 24 May 2019, the same date as the local and European elections. [2] The proposal was approved by 82% of voters. [3] The bill was signed into law on 11 June 2019 by Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland. [4]

Background

When the Constitution of Ireland was adopted in 1937, divorce was prohibited by Article 41.3.2°. A referendum held in 1986 to remove this prohibition was defeated. The prohibition was removed after a second referendum held in 1995, which was narrowly approved by 50.28% to 49.72%. The recognition of foreign divorce is regulated by Article 41.3.3°, which was unaffected by the 1995 referendum. The text of these two subsections prior to the 2019 amendment is set out below: [5]

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.
3° No person whose marriage has been dissolved under the civil law of any other State but is a subsisting valid marriage under the law for the time being in force within the jurisdiction of the Government and Parliament established by this Constitution shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage within that jurisdiction during the lifetime of the other party to the marriage so dissolved.

Divorce is regulated in statute law by the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996, passed after the 1995 amendment, which repeats conditions i, ii and iii of Article 41.3.2° verbatim. [6] Limited recognition of foreign divorce is provided by the Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act 1986. [7] In 2015 the Supreme Court called for reform of the 1986 Act. [8] [9]

Legislative history

The bill was introduced in the 32nd Dáil as the Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Divorce) Bill 2016, a private member's bill by a backbench TD from the Fine Gael party, Josepha Madigan. It proposed to reduce the period of separation from four years to two years by the substitution of the following text for clause 41.3.2°(i) above: [10]

i. at the date of the institution of the proceedings, the spouses have lived separate and apart from one another for a period of, or periods amounting to, at least two years in the previous three years,

The Fine Gael-led government agreed to support the bill, thereby permitting it to go second stage in the Dáil on 6 April 2017. [11] The committee stage was referred to the Select Committee On Justice And Equality, which considered it on 12 July 2017. [12] The Independents 4 Change TD, Clare Daly, wanted the separation period removed from the Constitution and dealt with instead in statute law, by amending the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996, as allowed under Article Article 41.3.2°(iv). Josepha Madigan said she was "not sure that the Irish people are completely ready for this provision to be taken out of the Constitution". The Solidarity–People Before Profit TD, Ruth Coppinger, proposed the specification of a maximum separation period that would be set by statute law, or a shorter one, or none. The Fine Gael TD, David Stanton, the Minister of State for Equality, Immigration and Integration, said the government would propose substantive amendments to the bill at report stage, which other deputies criticised as rendering the committee stage redundant. The bill passed committee stage unamended.

In November 2017 Madigan was appointed to the government as Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Nevertheless, on the Dáil order paper the bill formally remained as a private member's bill rather than a government bill; bills of the former class of proceed more slowly than those of the latter, because less Dáil time is reserved for private members' business.

Government amendments

In January 2019, the government announced that it would propose amendments to the bill at report stage to eliminate the waiting period and to regulate foreign divorce. [1] In March 2019, the government announced the wording for these amendments. It would propose to delete paragraph (i) of Article 41.3.2° and renumber subsequent paragraphs; and to substitute the following for subsection 3°: [2]

3° Provision may be made by law for the recognition under the law of the State of a dissolution of marriage granted under the civil law of another state.

The government also published the Draft of a General Scheme of the Family Law (Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2019, which it said that it would enact if the referendum passed. The promised bill would amend Section 5(1) of Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 by the substitution of “two years during the previous three years” for “four years during the previous five years”. [13]

Minister Charles Flanagan proposed the amendments to the constitutional bill in the Dáil at report stage on 3 April 2019; they passed unopposed and the bill completed remaining Dáil stages. [14] Flanagan also said that the issue of changing the law on foreign divorces within the terms of the revised Article 41.3.3° would be referred to the Law Reform Commission. [14] The number of the amendment was also changed from 35 to 38, as amendment numbers 36 and 37 had been enacted since the divorce bill was introduced. [14]

The bill passed all stages in the Seanad on 11 April 2019. [15] The following day, Eoghan Murphy, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage set 24 May 2019 as the date for the referendum. [16]

Referendum

The bill was submitted to referendum on 24 May 2019, the same day as the European Parliament election and local elections. It was the first time that a private member's bill was scheduled for a referendum. The "statement for the information of voters" that appeared on the ballot paper was approved by identical resolutions of the Dáil and Seanad passed immediately after the bill. [17] [15]

The Referendum Commission for the amendment referendum was established on 26 February 2019 with High Court judge Tara Burns appointed as chair. [18] [19] [20] Registration as an "approved body" entitled to campaign for or against the bill was open from 10 April to 25 April. [21]

Campaign

The referendum was overshadowed by campaigning for the simultaneous local and European elections. [22] The lacklustre campaign was attributed to "campaign fatigue" by a campaigner on the "No" side, Seamas de Barra, who is treasurer for the Alliance for the Defence of the Family and Marriage:

I think it's largely campaign fatigue from the abortion referendum. [23]

One argument in favour was that couples under the current law often obtain a judicial separation after two years apart and a divorce after four years, thus incurring two sets of legal costs. [24]

Some commentators criticised the bundling into a single amendment bill of two distinct changes (removal of the four-year waiting period and recognition of foreign divorces) thus preventing voters from approving one while rejecting the other. An opinion poll taken on 7–9 May for The Irish Times found 77% of respondents would vote Yes, 8% No, 11% unsure, and 4% would not vote. Among likely voters, 91% favoured Yes. [25]

The amendment was supported by Fine Gael, [11] Fianna Fáil, [11] Sinn Féin, [11] the Labour Party, [26] Solidarity–People Before Profit, [11] Social Democrats [27] and the Green Party, [28] as well as the Law Society of Ireland, [29] [24] Union of Students in Ireland, [30] Free Legal Advice Centres, [31] Irish Council for Civil Liberties, [31] and National Women's Council of Ireland. [31]

Organisations that campaigned for a "No" vote included Richard Greene's "Alliance for Defence of Family and Marriage" [32] and Renua’s European candidate in the Midlands North-West constituency, Michael O’Dowd. [33] Journalist Jennifer Bray suggested that opponents felt that "the race is lost and … mounting a full-scale campaign would be pointless". [34] David Quinn said the Iona Institute was opposed but did not campaign because "there is very little interest or awareness amongst our supporters on this issue. The stakes aren’t remotely as high as the abortion debate". [34] Denis Nulty, Catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin and chair of the Council for Marriage & Family of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, called on voters to "reflect deeply" and said the amendment's objective was "liberalising divorce rather than supporting marriage". [35]

Result

The proposal was approved.

Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Bill 2016 [36]
ChoiceVotes %
Check-71-128-204-brightblue.svg Yes1,384,19282.07
No302,31917.93
Valid votes1,686,51197.65
Invalid or blank votes40,5452.35
Total votes1,727,056100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,397,63650.83
Results by local authority area [36]
Local Authority ElectorateTurnout (%)VotesProportion of votes
YesNoYesNo
Carlow 44,44048.35%16,6684,22079.80%20.20%
Cavan 56,46656.73%24,1086,81177.97%22.03%
Clare 88,27356.31%39,7478,55182.30%17.70%
Cork City 142,62747.14%54,20012,11981.73%18.27%
Cork County 260,52750.53%104,04324,24681.10%18.90%
Donegal 127,84055.84%52,97915,86976.95%23.05%
Dublin City 354,44739.09%116,78320,06485.34%14.66%
Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown 157,36649.27%66,52910,20286.70%13.30%
Fingal 176,88944.79%67,74510,69686.36%13.64%
Galway City 49,24946.62%18,5683,92282.56%17.44%
Galway County 140,47554.91%60,67513,66281.62%18.38%
Kerry 111,63860.28%52,05212,63080.47%19.53%
Kildare 145,21747.41%57,8819,90485.39%14.61%
Kilkenny 72,60353.35%30,3847,32380.58%19.42%
Laois 59,12953.88%24,7596,21579.93%20.07%
Leitrim 26,34064.94%12,5173,86476.41%23.59%
Limerick City and County 142,96051.11%55,86215,12278.70%21.30%
Longford 30,56263.23%14,4674,18077.58%22.42%
Louth 91,47548.67%36,0417,72382.35%17.65%
Mayo 98,72162.44%46,98712,26979.29%20.71%
Meath 141,24749.09%56,73011,42383.24%16.76%
Monaghan 47,01756.97%19,3666,44175.04%24.96%
Offaly 57,30154.20%24,3895,78580.83%19.17%
Roscommon 48,65461.61%22,6056,34478.09%21.91%
Sligo 54,26360.51%25,5506,23980.37%19.63%
South Dublin 184,64543.12%67,85210,99186.06%13.94%
Tipperary 124,85659.09%57,07314,57879.65%20.35%
Waterford City and County 82,31253.45%34,9708,03381.32%18.68%
Westmeath 67,59049.72%25,9986,72779.44%20.56%
Wexford 116,66052.34%51,2898,71285.48%14.52%
Wicklow 95,84756.04%45,3757,45485.89%14.11%
Total3,397,63650.83%1,384,192302,39182.07%17.93%

Legislation

The amendment came into force when the amending act was signed into law on 11 June 2019 by Michael D. Higgins, the President of Ireland. [37]

The concomitant Family Law Bill 2019 was published and introduced in the Dáil on 9 October 2019; among the changes to divorce laws which it proposed were those newly permitted by the constitutional amendment, namely a reduction in the separation period from four to two years, and recognition of divorces granted in the European Union and, post Brexit, in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar. [38] The bill's second reading in the Dáil was moved by David Stanton on 16 October, [39] and it passed remaining Dáil stages that day without opposition. [40] On 23 October the Seanad passed the bill unamended, [38] and then passed a motion for its early signature by the President, [41] who accordingly signed it into law on 25 October as the Family Law Act 2019. [42] The sections reducing the waiting time came into force on 1 December 2019; [43] as of 10 July 2020 the sections recognising foreign divorce have not been commenced. [43]

Related Research Articles

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 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 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 approved 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oireachtas (Irish Free State)</span> Legislature of the Irish Free State

The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State was the legislature of the Irish Free State from 1922 until 1937. It was established by the 1922 Constitution of Ireland which was based from the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was the first independent Irish Parliament officially recognised outside Ireland since the historic Parliament of Ireland which was abolished with the Acts of Union 1800.

The Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adoption of the Constitution of Ireland</span> Plebiscite approving the Constitution of Ireland

The current Constitution of Ireland came into effect on 29 December 1937, repealing and replacing the Constitution of the Irish Free State, having been approved in a national plebiscite on 1 July 1937 with the support of 56.5% of voters in the then Irish Free State. The Constitution was closely associated with Éamon de Valera, the President of the Executive Council of the Irish Free State at the time of its approval.

The Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1958 was a proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland to alter the electoral system from proportional representation under the single transferable vote (PR-STV) to first-past-the-post (FPTP). The proposal was rejected in a referendum held on 17 June 1959. This was the same date as the presidential election in which Taoiseach Éamon de Valera was elected as president.

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.

A Referendum Commission was an independent statutory body in Ireland which had been set up in advance of referendums in Ireland from 1998 to 2019. The Referendum Act 1998 as amended by the Referendum Act 2001 provided for the establishment of the body. It was superseded in 2023 by the Electoral Commission, established on a permanent basis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seanad Éireann</span> Upper house of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament)

Seanad Éireann is the upper house of the Oireachtas, which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2013</span> Proposal to abolish the Seanad, the upper house of the Oireachtas

The Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2013 was a proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland to abolish Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Irish parliament, the Oireachtas. The proposal was rejected by the electorate in a referendum on 4 October 2013 by 51.7% voting against to 48.3% in favour.

The Marriage Act 2015 is an act of the Oireachtas which provides for same-sex marriage in Ireland. The act gives legislative effect in statute law to the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which mandates such provision. It was introduced on 15 September 2015 and signed into law on 29 October 2015, and commenced on 16 November 2015.

The Constitution Act 1936 was an Act of the Oireachtas of the Irish Free State amending the Constitution of the Irish Free State which had been adopted in 1922. It abolished the two university constituencies in Dáil Éireann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland</span> 2018 amendment decriminalising blasphemy

The Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution is an amendment to the constitution of Ireland which removed the constitution's requirement to criminalise "publication or utterance of blasphemous matter". The amendment was effected by an act of the Oireachtas — the Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 2018, which was introduced in Dáil Éireann, passed by the Dáil and Seanad, approved by the people in a referendum, before it was signed into law by the president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018</span> Law regulating the availability of abortion in Ireland

The Health Act 2018 is an Act of the Oireachtas which defines the circumstances and processes within which abortion may be legally performed in Ireland. It permits termination under medical supervision, generally up to 12 weeks' pregnancy, and later if pregnancy poses a serious health risk or there is a fatal foetal abnormality.

Various proposals have been considered since the 1980s to extend the franchise in Irish presidential elections to citizens resident outside the state. In 2019, the then government introduced a bill to amend the constitution to facilitate this extension. The bill lapsed in January 2020 when the 32nd Dáil was dissolved for the 2020 general election, but was restored to the order paper in July 2020.

References

Sources

Citations

  1. 1 2 "Minister Flanagan announces Government approval for a referendum on divorce". Department of Justice and Equality. 29 January 2019. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Minister Flanagan announces publication of text of amendments to be proposed for the referendum on divorce". Department of Justice and Equality . 26 March 2019. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  3. ↑ "Divorce referendum to reduce required wait period passes by huge margin". The Irish Times. 26 May 2019. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "2019 Legislation". The President. Office of the President of Ireland. Archived from the original on 18 April 2019. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "Constitution of Ireland". Irish Statute Book. December 2019. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  6. ↑ "Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 [as amended]". Revised Acts. Law Reform Commission. 1 January 2019. §5(1). Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  7. ↑ "Domicile and Recognition of Foreign Divorces Act 1986 [as amended]". Revised Acts. Law Reform Commission. 1 January 2016. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  8. ↑ Carolan, Mary (3 February 2015). "Supreme Court calls for law on recognition of foreign divorces". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  9. ↑ H. v H. [2015] IESC S7 (3 February 2015), Supreme Court (Ireland)
  10. ↑ "Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Divorce) Bill 2016: First Stage". Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 6 July 2016. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Divorce) Bill 2016: Second Stage". Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 6 April 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "Twenty-fifth [sic] Amendment of the Constitution (Divorce) Bill 2016: Committee Stage". Select Committee on Justice and Equality debate. Oireachtas. 12 July 2017. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "Draft of a General Scheme of the Family Law (Divorce) (Amendment) Bill 2019" (PDF). Department of Justice and Equality . Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  14. 1 2 3 "Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Divorce) Bill 2016: Report and Final Stages [Private Members] – Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil)". Oireachtas. 3 April 2019. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Daily business in Seanad Éireann: 11 April 2019". Seanad Éireann video archive. Houses of the Oireachtas. 13 March 2018. 2h54m. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  16. ↑ "Referendum (Polling Day) Order 2019" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil . 2019 (31): 620. 16 April 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 13 March 2023.
  17. ↑ "Statement for Information of Voters: Motion". Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) debates. Houses of the Oireachtas. 3 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  18. ↑ McQuinn, Cormac (27 February 2019). "Push to inform public as vote on divorce length set for May". Independent.ie. Archived from the original on 28 February 2019. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
  19. ↑ Referendum Commission (Establishment) Order 2019 ( ). Enacted on 26 February 2019. Act of the Oireachtas . Archived from the original on 27 March 2019.Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 27 March 2019.
  20. ↑ "Minister Murphy announces establishment of Referendum Commission". Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 26 February 2019. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  21. ↑ "Approved Bodies - Application process now open". Referendum Commission. 10 April 2019. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  22. ↑ Kenny, Aisling (9 May 2019). "A guide to the issues in the Divorce Referendum". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 10 May 2019.; "Why Hot Press Will Be Voting Yes In The Referendum On Divorce". Hot Press . 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 9 December 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2019. ... there is a third, hugely important vote also taking place. It has been overshadowed by the European elections in particular ...
  23. ↑ Al Jazeera Archived 24 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine , "Ireland votes in divorce referendum" (25 May 2019), retrieved 24 May 2019
  24. 1 2 Shannon, Geoffrey (April 2019). "Divorce in Ireland: the Case for Reform" (PDF). Law Society of Ireland. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  25. ↑ Leahy, Pat (11 May 2019). "Voters set to overwhelmingly approve divorce law changes". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  26. ↑ Bacik, Ivana (9 April 2019). "Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Dissolution of Marriage) Bill 2016: Second Stage". Seanad Éireann (25th Seanad) debates. Houses of the Oireachtas. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  27. ↑ "Vote Yes for more humane and compassionate divorce". Social Democrats. Archived from the original on 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  28. ↑ "We're backing a YES vote in the Divorce referendum this Friday May 24th". Green Party. 20 May 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  29. ↑ Daly, Adam (2 May 2019). "Solicitors want a Yes vote in divorce referendum". TheJournal.ie. Archived from the original on 1 June 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  30. ↑ "Students Voting YES in Divorce Referendum, May 24th". Union of Students in Ireland. 22 May 2019. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  31. 1 2 3 Comms (9 May 2019). "Leading national NGOs come together to call for a Yes vote in the upcoming Divorce Referendum – One Family Ireland". onefamily.ie. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  32. ↑ "Alliance for the Defence of the Family and Marriage". 10 May 2019. Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  33. ↑ Irish Times Archived 19 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine - (16 May 2019), "Campaigners see little appetite for No vote in divorce referendum", Retrieved 24 May 2019.
  34. 1 2 Bray, Jennifer (16 May 2019). "Campaigners see little appetite for No vote in divorce referendum". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 19 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  35. ↑ Cunningham, Paul (18 May 2019). "Bishops call on electorate to 'reflect deeply'". RTÉ News. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
  36. 1 2 "Current Referendum". Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  37. ↑ Mangan, Ian (12 June 2019). "The Divorce Bill has officially been signed into law today". Buzz.ie. Archived from the original on 16 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  38. 1 2 "Family Law Bill 2019 — No. 78 of 2019". Bills. Oireachtas. 8 October 2019. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  39. ↑ "Family Law Bill 2019: Second Stage". Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 16 October 2019. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  40. ↑ "Family Law Bill 2019: Committee and Remaining Stages". Dáil Éireann (32nd Dáil) debates. Oireachtas. 16 October 2019. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  41. ↑ "Family Law Bill 2019: Motion for Earlier Signature". Seanad Éireann (25th Seanad) debates. Oireachtas. 23 October 2019. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  42. ↑ "President Higgins signs Family Law Bill 2019 into law" (Press release). Office of the President of Ireland. 25 October 2019. Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.; "Family Law Act 2019". electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB). Archived from the original on 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  43. 1 2 "Family Law Act 2019: Commencement, Amendments, SIs made under the Act". Irish Statute Book. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 7 February 2021. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.