One Of The Most Important Irish Referendums Ever Has Just Been Postponed

It has been well over three months since Ireland voted yes to repealing the Eighth Amendment but it seems that a referendum just as important will not be held this October like it was supposed to be.

Plans on whether to remove or keep what Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan described as the “sexist and reductive” section in the constitution which describes the women’s place in the home have been halted.

Originally, a referendum surrounding Article 41.2 was set to take place alongside the Presidential Election in October, but this will not be the case now it seems.

The existing article states that:

“In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved.”

“The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.”

According to The Irish Independent, Minister Flanagan said that:

“The Constitution doesn’t seek to define the place of men. I believe it should not seek to define the place of women.

“To me, this is a straightforward proposition and after many decades of inaction, the time has come for the people to exercise a view on the retention or removal of the Article,” before accepting that the referendum would not go ahead at the end of October following the outcome of an Oireachtas meeting.

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