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ENDA KENNY HAS said it’s unclear if a referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment would pass if it were held now.
The Taoiseach said that if Fine Gael is re-elected to government it would, within six months, set up a forum similar to the Constitutional Convention to consider the matter.
The controversial amendment, passed by referendum in 1983, enshrines the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn in the Constitution and effectively outlaws abortion in Ireland.
Kenny was speaking after the Irish Independent reported yesterday that just 15 of Fine Gael’s 67 TDs said they would favour repeal of the amendment.
Kenny has already said that his party’s TDs and Senators will be given a free vote on the issue, including ministers, should it come before the Dáil and Seanad.
Kenny said his personal view is that “you can’t just remove an article from the Constitution”. He added:
You have to have the support of the people and I think if that were put to the people today the result would be unclear. So we need to look at the question of all of these things in detail.
“I’ve set out that process which will be sensitive and empathetic and comprehensive and, after that, look at the question of an Oireachtas committee dealing with that, with the experts and seeking can consensus be arrived at.
“There are very, very difficult situations in respect of fatal foetal abnormality and incest and rape and obviously these are human stories and they need to be considered in that fashion.”
At a later press conference with the Tánaiste, Kenny said he is “loathe” to put a date on when a referendum might be held.
But he said “it will happen during the course of the next couple of years, in the lifetime of the next government” if the coalition is re-elected.
Labour leader Joan Burton, whose party has committed to repealing the Eighth Amendment, said she favoured using the Constitutional Convention process to consider the matter again before it goes before an Oireachtas committee.
“I would have thought it would take a period of a year, a year-and-a-half,” she said.
She added: “I’ve said before, and we had a lot of discussions in our party down the years about the Eighth Amendment, we were opposed to it being included in the Constitution in the first place.”
“So, we’ve had a long standing position that it doesn’t best serve the interests of women or indeed of the wider Irish society.”
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Another calamity averted by the services, both staffed and voluntary, who respond promptly and efficiently at all times.
People need to put their brains in gear as well as their protective equipment, which has been instrumental in saving up to nine lives in the last two days alone.
Tramore RNLI seem to be involved quite often in these articles!
Any fish for the table salvaged!
Well done Tramore lifeboat crew, these guys are real heroes & deserve far better support from government than what they get.
Sadly it was around the same spot that a number of fisherman from the locality between Tramore and Dunmore East have also lost their lives recently and In the past by the same coastal tides around this area. None of them were ignorant of the sea nor what the consequences are but I do know that there are a lot of freak waves and swells that can have the ability to turn over / capsize a boat just after you sail / motor around Brownstown head….. This area has had a fair share of drowning/ sinkings/ capsizes and deaths so thankfully all those on board were recovered safely…..
Will they ever learn from other souls’ tragedies
And do what lillian not work and not feed their families.
They were anglers dude,not out for profit .
I don’t see anywhere in the article that error on their part was to blame?? The fact that they were wearing their life jackets possibly saved them long enough to be rescued, so what puts them at fault?
The lad who swam ashore took a big risk leaving the upturned boat. He wouldn’t have to do so if they brought some form of communication such as VHF radio or even flares. Going pooly equipped is a massive fault in itself
Accidents do happen….as the wife of the owner of the boat, I cannot thank the RNLI enough for their swift rescue and if there is a lesson for all to learn it’s that the sea is not a playground. When a tragedy occurs, the crew of the RNLI are putting their lives at risk as well. Please, I beg you all, DO NOT TAKE THE SEA FOR GRANTED. I thank GOD that I did not have to bury my husband and friends after Sundays incident,
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