💾 Archived View for library.inu.red › file › kevin-doyle-ireland-votes-for-divorce.gmi captured on 2023-01-29 at 11:50:31. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Title: Ireland votes for Divorce Author: Kevin Doyle Date: 1996 Language: en Topics: Ireland, democracy, marriage, Workers Solidarity Source: Retrieved on 5th December 2021 from http://struggle.ws/ws/div47.html Notes: Published in Workers Solidarity No. 47 — Spring 1996.
AT LAST, the ban on divorce is gone. In the past few years, issues
concerning the family and the place of women have been at the centre of
Irish politics — in part because Catholic church thinking has long
dominated these areas of life in Ireland. Things first began to change
for the better in the early 1970s when women began to fight back against
Church rule. Contraception was demanded and won.
Later access to information on abortion, and abortion facilities in
England, was fought for and won — though in a very restricted context.
(Let us not forget that as many as 6,000 Irish women travel to England
every year to have an abortion because it remains illegal in the 26
counties.) Now, with the recent Divorce Referendum, a restricted form of
divorce will be allowed. Another blow has been struck against the
Catholic church that fought its hardest to prevent any change occurring.
The ‘yes’ campaign won by the narrowest of margins — by less than half
of one per cent of all the votes cast. The turnout of the electorate was
approximately 61%. Even up to the very end the result was in doubt and a
full re-count of all votes cast was necessary in order to confirm the
result. Nevertheless, the majority was clearly for ‘yes’ and clearly for
divorce.
Across the twenty-six counties the changes since 1986 — when the last
referendum on divorce was held — were definite, and in some places
dramatic. Swings to the ‘yes’ side varied between 10% and 20%, the
highest being recorded in the working-class constituency of Dublin
Central. In all 16 constituencies voted ‘yes’ and 25 voted ‘no’.
Even predominantly rural constituencies such as Kerry South held
respectable swings to the ‘yes’ campaign, this despite the complete lack
of a ‘yes’ campaign in many of these areas. Two constituencies that
eventually voted ‘no’ — Waterford and Wexford — still recorded two of
the largest swings to the ‘yes’ side. This is one of the better aspects
of the referendum compared with the vote in 1986. This time around those
supporting divorce were not just concentrated in Dublin. This indicates
a broader and more substantial move away from Catholic Church control in
Ireland than in previous times.
The Divorce Referendum, though conservative in terms of what it
proposed, was from the very beginning about much more. As the ‘yes’ and
‘no’ campaigns heated up in the weeks before the vote, two clear views
about the way Irish society should be became apparent. Those supporting
the ‘no’ side were intent on retaining control over the individual and
what the individual does. Those who supported the ‘yes’ campaign wanted
the arena of individual freedom enlarged. This is why we, as anarchists,
were involved in the referendum.
Perhaps no one understood the issues in such a clear light as those who
were behind the ‘no’ campaign — the Catholic Right. They were well
organised, they had plenty of money (including American money) and they
weren’t afraid of the issues. They believe in authoritarian solutions to
the problems in Irish society and they believe in forcing things down
people’s throats.
Arguing that the ‘common good’ must come first, they excused away the
reality of marriage breakdown in Ireland with a total disregard for the
individuals involved — be they women, men or children. Their attitude
was ‘Put Up or Shut Up’- and it was this approach that was eventually
rejected by the ‘yes’ victory. The campaign fought by the Catholic Right
was committed and forceful. A response that was in sharp contrast to
that of the Government.
If ever there was a liability for the ‘no’ campaign, it was having the
Government on its side. The Government led the ‘yes’ campaign, they
controlled the money, they even tried to set the agenda of debate — in
the end they nearly lost it for everyone. By their very presence they
stymied initiative. The ‘yes’ campaign got off the ground late, it
lacked any initial willingness to tackle Catholic Church hypocrisy and
it pussy-footed around all the main issues — the ‘cost of divorce’, the
alleged effects on children, etc.
Worst of all, and perhaps this is their lasting legacy, the Government
have lumbered the people with the disgraceful provision — now enshrined
in the Constitution! — that one must separate for at least four years
before you can entertain the idea of a divorce. This, we have argued, is
an affront to every person who goes through the trauma of a broken
marriage.
The ‘yes’ campaign was very broad, and it stood for different things at
different times. Some of the arguments that it used were good — the
arguments for ‘divorce as a civil right’ for instance, or the argument
for the separation of Church and State’. Yet there were other ideas in
the ‘yes’ campaign that we, as anarchists, had no truck with. We did not
participate in the campaign for divorce so as ‘to strengthen the
institution of marriage’. Many of the political parties argued for
divorce along these lines — quite illogically in our opinion.
The Workers Solidarity Movement said straight out that divorce will
weaken the institution of marriage, and that this is a good thing. We
are for choice in life, and for respect for the individual. We believe
that people, on the whole, act carefully and responsibly with their
lives. Most of all we do not believe that you need a law to keep you in
a relationship with another person — we think the idea is actually
absurd. Our partners in this life are our own business and the ‘yes’
victory was one small step towards bringing this a little closer. That
is why we fought hard for a ‘yes’ vote.
The big loser in this referendum was the Catholic Church. They have,
especially in times past, wielded great power in the twenty-six county
state. They have wielded it disgracefully — punishing people who don’t
hold with Church views, encouraging chauvinism and intolerance of the
worst kind. Despite their Christian rhetoric, they have rarely shown an
iota of ‘compassion’ for anyone. For this reason alone victory is
sweet.>
But the Catholic Church continues to be a very powerful force in
Ireland. This should not be forgotten. It still retains huge influence
in schools, hospitals and in the local community. It also retains huge
support among the main political parties — Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and
Labour. The campaign to remove the Catholic Church from Irish society,
where they survive at the tax payers’ expense, still has a long way to
go.
The successful ‘yes’ vote did show however that we can win — most
importantly against superior forces, with greater resources. It is a
victory for all those who did the merest bit to encourage a ‘yes’ vote.
But there is also a warning in the narrowness of the victory.
The Catholic Right is now a force in Irish society. And they are
organising in a more political direction. They are committed and strong
and they have money. They want to bring Ireland back to an era when no
one questioned anything, when women stayed at home because they were
forced to. From now on the Catholic Right will fight tooth and nail on
every issue of importance to them. There is still a long struggle ahead
to beat them once and for all.