Updated: 2.20pm
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has questioned the decision of Government politicians announcing they had not voted in favour of recent constitutional amendments.
Over the weekend, the Government suffered major defeats to two proposed changes to the Constitution relating to the definition of family and State recognition of women and carers.
The three coalition parties had campaigned in favour of the amendments, but a number of Fianna Fáil representatives have since said they voted against the Government in one or both of the referendums.
Mr Varadkar, the leader of Fine Gael, said he had not spoken to Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin who is in Canada.
Speaking to reporters in Boston, he said he did not anticipate it would adversely affect relations between the coalition partners “in any way”.
However, Mr Varadkar added: “But you know, I would question why people would announce that they’re on the winning side, only after they realised who had won.
“I can understand how people in the privacy of the ballot box might vote in a particular way, but I’m not really sure what the wisdom of it is.
“But, you know, they’re all elected in their own right, and they’re all grown-ups, and they’re all free to explain themselves.
“I don’t think I can do it for them.”
Mr Varadkar said it was the “full-time job” of Government TDs and Senators to have understood the issues in advance of the vote.
He added: “They had ample time and they are paid to do this.”
Side of caution
Speaking later, Fianna Fáil TD Barry Cowen, who will be a candidate in the European elections, said it had to be acknowledged that when people were in doubt and were not getting “clear, distinct answers” then it was understandable that they would err on the side of caution and reject what had been proposed in the two referendums.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News at One, Mr Cowen said he had voted yes to both proposals, but had not campaigned for them as he had been “preoccupied with winning a convention” and then preparing to commence his own European election campaign.
When asked about party colleagues who had campaigned for a yes vote but had subsequently admitted that they had voted no, Mr Cowen said he personally thought it would have been better if they had informed their electorate “before the vote rather than after it”.
The issue was not how TDs or Senators had voted, he said, it was about accepting the decision of the people who had “emphatically” rejected the proposals in the referendums.
“Anybody and everybody's entitled to change their mind when they see fit, they can answer for themselves as to the reasons why they did or didn't. That's for them to respond to,” Mr Cowen said.
Some may describe the actions of Senator Lisa Chambers as hypocrisy, he said, but he felt it better for people to respond directly. People were entitled to change their mind and then vote as they saw fit, he added.
“That's a decision she made, you know, and she made it very late in the day. And she has responded after the event. And if you wish to ask her to respond again to that fact, you may do so.”
