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THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT has now officially been removed from the Irish Constitution, after President Michael D Higgins signed the legislation formally repealing it this evening.
The Irish electorate voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment by a large majority in May’s referendum, with just under 67% voting in favour of repeal.
A stay was put on the result formally being enacted into law, as a number of individuals launched legal cases seeking to challenge the result of the referendum.
The last of these appeals was dismissed by the Supreme Court earlier this month.
In effect – by voting to repeal the Eighth - the country voted to introduce the 36th Amendment of the Constitution.
This allowed the existing Article 40.3.3 – which contains the Eighth Amendment (right to life of the unborn), 13th Amendment (right to information about seeking a termination), and 14th Amendment (right to travel for a termination) – to be replaced with this line:
Provision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy.
With President Higgins signing the legislation today, this article has replaced the Eighth in the Irish Constitution.
Minister for Health Simon Harris has already indicated the government will aim to introduce enact legislation providing for abortion by the beginning of 2019 at the latest.
In a tweet this evening, he said the process would be expedited as soon as possible.
The expected legislation would allow abortion without restriction up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and in very limited circumstance thereafter, such as when the mother’s life is at risk, as outlined here.
I suspect Johnson may emerge from his vaccine lap ahead, scornfully glancing at the EU, by forcing an early election while branding Labour a bunch of chickens if they initially resist – and then forging ahead with the Tory majority extended from 80 to 100 or so.
And then if there’s a hot Summer of protest up North he’ll play the great statesman by calling for the Northern Ireland protocol to be scrapped or unilaterally scrapping it, in an effort to strategically weaken Ireland’s relationship with the EU, while contently watching whether there’ll be a land border as a result.
I think we might well be in for a few more laughs with this joker.
@Mick Tobin: Am no fan of the yanks but we might need them to put the pressure on the UK re a trade deal if you’re right.
I should perhaps add that Johnson might also want to consider renaming his party the ENP – the English National Party.
@Mick Tobin: it’s unreal how quite Labour are. They really need to kick in with something solid soon.
@Paul Furey: They can’t, there’s absolutely b***** all they can do at the moment. They tried moving to the hard left under Corbyn – seemingly an effort to move away from Blair which already started with Ed Miliband, and that obviously didn’t work.
Now they’re back at the centre and all they can do is wait until the corona crisis is over, and it’s back to the everyday realities including those of Brexit. Then perhaps they have a shot at coming up with a few viable alternatives (such as joining the customs union).
I think for one they need another leader, perhaps Manchester mayor Andy Burnham. In any case I’m afraid it’ll be a long time before they have a serious chance at winning an election.
@Mick Tobin: You are hypothesising my worst fears. He is a deplorable joke of a man with zero integrity, morals. His political and career ambitions trumps anything like an international peace treaty such as the GFA. There will be terrible consequences for the UK but if the terds amplify scenes like week he could have his excuse.
@Gary Garden: In a sense Johnson is simply a representative of the usual confrontational divide-and-conquer style of British politics – albeit a more serious case. But Brexit has made it spill over onto the international stage, with Ireland the first scapegoat to be encountered there.
@Mick Tobin: you had me at ‘joker’… spoiled it with this prejudiced postscript. Shame.
@Paul Furey:
Since Corbyn was shafted there is no opposition, Starmer is Tory light, just like Blair.
Same happened here with Labour becoming FG Light.
No opposition in the UK and only SF as opposition here with PBP, SD and a few others.
Awful Shame everyone has shifted to the Right
@Mick Tobin: an nationalist leader, Ireland would benefit greatly from one
For a small Irish newspaper to infer that the British prime minister is some sort of circus character is a bit rich considering what you have for a government in Ireland.
@Michael Maher: the guardian is not Irish, it started in Manchester & it has become a laughable shadow of its former self.
@Richard Cronin: The Journal took up on it
@Michael Maher: this is journal most of the articles on here are copy & paste jobs from associated press (American). That don’t make it irish, it makes journal a poor news site that is why most people come on here for the comments.
@Richard Cronin: 100%
He is certainly no mug.
@Scott Coulter: he is actually. He’s out of his depth. He wanted the lead role in his school, he got and hadn’t a clue what to do. He wanted the
He is Penny wise and Pound……
A very good read. Unfortunately we have a government who is not performing like Johnson but by their actions, have inadvertently become clowns. Everything they touch at the moment is falling apart. These clowns are not giving us anything to laugh at and the audience are far from happy.
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