I SHOULD be in a state of heightened excitement about the forthcoming referendum.
I should be counting down the 20 days between now and the moment I put pencil to paper on the two proposed amendments to the Constitution.
But, with fewer than three weeks to go, you could cut the public lethargy with a knife.
On a personal level, I feel a bit cheated. I’m far from a political anorak, but this will be the first time I get the opportunity to vote in a referendum. Considering I will be turning 55 in a few days’ time, that’s some going!
Being from the UK, I never voted in a referendum, and was long gone by the time they held two in the space of a few years - the first rejected a change to the first-past-the-post voting system, and the second was something to do with leaving the European Union; you might recall how that went.
Here in Ireland, referendums are common enough, but I had to become an Irish citizen before I could cast a vote in one. I eventually did so, after giving the matter much thought and due diligence.
Before being granted citizenship, I missed out on the lively referendums on gay marriage and abortion, which proved huge turning points in how Ireland sees itself and is viewed abroad.
Hence my excitement that I will now get to cast a vote to change the Constitution on March 8.
But, oh my, it’s proving to be far from the baptism of fire I was hoping for - more of a very damp squib.
Which way should I vote, or indeed, should I bother voting at all?
The referendums on gay marriage and abortion were straightforward and easy to express, and the debates were polarised and compelling.
In the latest one, voters will be asked if they wish to:
They don’t quite trip off the tongue, do they, and prompt passionate responses in the way that ‘Keep your rosaries off my ovaries’ did?
The fact that the Government chose International Women’s Day to hold this latest referendum indicates the direction in which it is facing on these issues.
However, the debate around the replacement text has been long and convoluted, and the Culture Wars have muddied the waters too.
The resulting proposed changes to the Constitution are a bit of a word salad and have led to all kinds of debates about what constitutes a family, and the role of women in society, and whether a Yes vote will lead to interminable debates down the line for learned friends..
You are left with the strong sense that the Government has not only dropped the ball on this, but missed an open goal.
For years, that offending line in 41.2 of the Constitution has been summed up as telling the women of Ireland that their place is in the home.
It’s not quite as demeaning as that. Indeed, the exact wording is rather a recognition of the work women do in the home, and expressing the view that they should be able to carry out these duties without feeling the need to work at the same time.
Dated, yes. Sexist, yes. But also a nod to the vital role women will always play in society.
Whatever about that debate, the open goal for the Government would have been to delete the line completely and not replace it with anything. Why complicate matters?
If the line is deemed to be sexist, then take it out. I, and millions of us, would vote for that.
Alternatively, they could have just changed it to ‘women and men’, which would be a fair reflection of the role my generation of males now play in all aspects of life in the home and outside.
Did the Government want to avoid using terms like ‘women’ and ‘men’ for fear of offending a host of groups who don’t see gender as being as binary as that?
Who knows? But what I do know is that they have turned an easy win at the ballot box into what could now be a close-run thing. In chasing their tails by adding all kinds of concepts of recognising ‘carers’ in the home, they have lost the room.
Similarly, the Government’s attempt to redefine a family to include “durable relationships outside marriage” has raised far more questions than it has answered.
In the modern world, where grievance and offence are just waiting to be taken, and where lawyers are willing to quibble and charge thousands over a comma, it strikes me that the less said in the Constitution, the better - if, indeed, we need a Constitution at all.
After all, although the Constitution is important in setting the tone of a nation’s life, people have been raising families for generations outside of marriage, and the sky hasn’t fallen in, and no female today is going to decide to eschew a career and do the hoovering instead just because 41.2 tells them.
While the State, politicians, and lawyers find this worthy of forensic debate, the rest of us will get on with our own lives and make our own choices in blissful ignorance.
The phrase, ‘a camel is a horse designed by committee’ comes to mind as regards these proposed amendments, and now voters seem to be getting the hump with the whole thing.
A recent poll showed that, although the referendums are on course to pass – most voters say they know “hardly anything at all” about the proposed changes.
However, with better-informed folk more likely to vote against the proposed changes, there is an expectation that the lead for the Yes side may shrink as polling day nears.
However, there are fears the turn-out at the polls will be a record low of around just 30%. I don’t want to belong in that cohort in my first chance to vote in a referendum.
My current inclination is to vote Yes/Yes, on the reasonable basis that not all families are based on marriage, and that singling out women for their work in the home suggests the domestic onus is on them.
But I am willing to listen to all sides on these debates.
So, I urge you to take a moment to read a brief explanation of the referendum issues at www.electoralcommission.ie/referendums/ and email me at letters@theecho.ie on which way you plan to vote, and why.
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