Bacik calls for article 41 change

LABOUR SENATOR Ivana Bacik has called for a referendum to remove from the Constitution what she described as “outdated references” to the role of women.

Ms Bacik said she welcomed the publication this week of the children’s rights report, which contained a proposal for a referendum that could result in a new article 42 in the Constitution.

She said she was proposing that a second referendum take place on the same day as the one recommended by the Oireachtas committee on the constitutional amendment on children.

This second referendum, proposed by Ms Bacik, would relate to the terms of article 41, the article which relates to the family. However, the committee, which launched its report on Tuesday, did not propose any amendment to article 41.

“Another way in which the influence of the Catholic Church on our laws remains strong is in the wording of article 41 of the Constitution, which refers to mothers having ‘duties in the home’ and to women’s ‘life within the home.’” Ms Bacik said.“Nowhere in the current text is there any reference to fathers . . .”