Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said this in Dublin on Saturday. The changes to be voted on in Ireland should in future also include “long-term relationships” outside of marriage as a family and remove an outdated reference to the role of the “woman in the home”.
“I think it is clear at this point that the amendments (…) have been rejected,” Varadkar told reporters. His government will “accept and fully respect the result.”
All major parties for change
Article 41 of the Irish constitution, which was put to the vote on Friday by almost 3.5 million eligible voters, dates back to 1937. All major political parties in Ireland had supported the proposed changes. Opponents of the proposals had argued that the concept of “lasting relationships” was vague and confusing.
In Ireland, which is predominantly Catholic, a two-thirds majority voted to legalize abortion in a referendum in 2018. In 2015, the Irish voted to introduce marriage for same-sex couples.
