The director of the Women’s Council of Ireland Orla O’Connor has said that the wording of a referendum into the role of women in the home needed to be well thought out, and sufficient time be given for the public to consider any proposed changes.
If a referendum is to go ahead early next year then the wording needs to be published in the next few weeks to allow sufficient time for a national conversation, she told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
“It's very important that the public has time to consider the changes and that we've time for that national conversation in terms of what's involved. This really is a significant referendum. We've known for a long time that we need to remove Article 41.2, which relates to very much saying a women's role is in the home. And, you know, the National Women's Council is very clear, we want to see that out. But also significantly is the inclusion of the value of care and recognising the importance of care in our society.”
The Women’s Council agreed with the wording suggested by the Citizens Assembly which recognised care in all its forms, inside the home, but also in the wider community. This needed to be in the broadest form, she said.
The diversity of families also needed to be recognised.
It was a recognition of the value of care in society and the role of carers that was important, she added. It should not be limited to care in the home. “We want to see broad recognition.”
This referendum would be different to recent referendums for marriage equality and Repeal the Eighth which had led to one direct change. “What this referendum will do is lead to. What it will do is create a very strong public mandate for the support for care in all its forms, for care, in terms of carers, but also in terms of things like public services in relation to care. So we see it as creating that public mandate.”
Ms O’Connor said the advice from the Electoral Commission needed to be taken into account with regard to the wording and format of the referendum, but the important thing was that there be a 16 week lead in time to ensure “there is that conversation".
