Sir, – The first paragraph of the new text we are invited to add to our Constitution states that children have rights, but does not say what they are. The Referendum Commission’s Guide tells us “It will be a matter for the courts, on a case by case basis, to identify the rights protected by this provision”.
In a representative democracy, it is the duty of elected legislators to decide what rights citizens, whether young or old, should have, and to pass laws accordingly. If they fail to do so, or do so inadequately, they are answerable to the people. In this democracy, Article 15.2 of our Constitution states: “The sole and exclusive power of making laws for the State is hereby vested in the Oireachtas: no other legislative authority has power to make laws for the State.”
It seems the effect of this amendment would be to transfer the power to legislate on children’s rights from the Dáil to the judges. Judges are neither trained nor qualified to legislate, on children’s rights or on any other area. Nor are they answerable to the people for their decisions, as TDs are. The proposal seems to me to constitutionally wrong. It would lessen the people’s control over the making of laws that govern them, and erode the democratic nature of the State The remaining paragraphs of the proposed amendment seem welcome, but is the price we would have to pay for adopting them too high? – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Regarding the latest Irish Times/Ipsos MRBI poll (Home News, October 20th), when asked if they understood the issues involved in the children’s rights referendum just 10 per cent of those polled said they did; yet when “Asked how they intended to vote in the referendum, 58 per cent of the people said Yes”.
Why would anyone vote Yes to something they knew precious little about? Surely it’s incumbent upon the electorate to be sufficiently au fait with the subject it is being asked to vote on? Only then can it make an informed decision.
Let’s hope the recently launched Referendum Commission’s Guide to the Children’s Referendum goes some way towards ridding us of our apparent ignorance concerning the 31st amendment to Bunreacht na hÉireann. – Yours, etc,
A chara, – I am still trying to figure out the logic (if any) in Dan Sheehan’s (October 18th) contention that the issue of abortion has no place in the children’s rights referendum. I would have thought that the right to life is paramount. Arguing about the right to food,shelter, education, equality, etc, would seem somewhat meaningless if the recipients have been denied that most basic and fundamental of rights: life. – Is mise,