The Irish Prime Minister hailed the referendum as an opportunity to end ‘very old, very sexist language about women’.
Two referendums in the Republic of Ireland on redefining the role of the family and women in the constitution have been defeated, Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said.
The government supported the proposed changes, which would have broadened the definition of family and clarified the role of women in society.
Varadkar had described Friday’s election, which deliberately fell on International Women’s Day, as an opportunity to end “very old-fashioned, very sexist language about women”.
He said that the government will accept the results.
“I think it’s clear at this stage that the family amendment and the care amendment referendum have been defeated – completely defeated on a respectable turnout,” Varadkar said at a news conference in Dublin on Saturday.
“It was our responsibility to convince the majority of people to vote ‘yes’ and we clearly failed to do that.”
Official results are expected later on Saturday.
Both proposals would make changes to the text of Article 41 of the 1937 Irish Constitution.
The first asked citizens to expand the definition of family from those founded on marriage to also include “sustainable relationships” such as couples and their children together.
Another proposed replacing the outdated language around a mother’s “domestic duties” with a provision recognizing the care provided to one another by family members.
In effect, the proposal to spread the burden of caring for disabled people from just the mother to the whole family, became a debate about the extent or willingness of the state to support caregivers.
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The poll had indicated a ‘yes’ vote
All major political parties had supported a “yes-yes” vote, and recently, polls had predicted easy passage for both.
But “No” campaigners argued that the concept of “sustainable relationship” was vague and confusing and that women and mothers were being “deleted” from the constitution.
In addition, ultra-conservative voices argued that the changes could constitutionally protect polygamous relationships and increase immigration by reestablishing immigrant families — claims all denied by the government.
By 12:00 GMT on Saturday, it was clear that the count was trending toward “no” on both questions.
The vote is the latest attempt to show the changing face of EU member Ireland and the waning influence of the once-dominant Roman Catholic Church.
In recent decades, Ireland has transitioned from a conservative, predominantly Catholic country to an increasingly diverse and socially liberal society.
The change follows changes to an old constitution where, until 1973, single women had to resign from their jobs when they got married, and married women could not apply for vacancies.
The constitution, the nation’s primary legal text, can only be changed through a national referendum.
The country of 5.3 million chose to lift constitutional limits on same-sex marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018.