The Government should apologise for their 'arrogant' and 'complacent' running of the referenda - Kilkenny election candidate

The Government should apologise to carers, the disabled, families and women for their 'arrogant' and 'complacent' running of last Friday's referenda, according to Labour Party election candidate and former Mayor of Kilkenny, Seán Ó hArgáin. 

Ireland has voted to reject Government proposals to change the Constitution that would have removed the so-called 'woman in the home' clause and widened the definition of family.

The public rejected the proposed changes on family, with 67% of people voting against the amendment.

Speaking after the referenda results were revealed on Saturday evening, Mr Ó hArgáin described the conduct of the campaign for the Government-proposed referenda as the 'worst he had seen in 35 years of political activism' and claimed the Government had made an 'utter hames' of such an important opportunity to modernise our constitution.

"I have rarely seen the level of anger with a government proposal to the people that I have seen in recent weeks of canvassing in this referendum campaign. Even in the last week of the campaign, when I canvassed on High Street in the city, the anger and upset from young and particularly older voters was palpable. I had a stream of carers, many on the verge of tears approach me, expressing their frustration at a government who have ignored and devalued them for years," he said.

"The Government’s decision to ignore the advice of the Citizen’s Assembly and Labour’s proposed amendments on the wording of the care section was disastrous from the start. The  opportunity to commit the people and government of our republic to make real provision for family and non-family carers was turned away for ideological reasons by this conservative coalition. Carers and the disabled or ill people they care for deserve much better.," Mr Ó hArgáin added.

"The failure of our constitution to recognise other family units, particularly those not based on marriage needs to be reversed as soon as possible. The ludicrous inclusion of the phrase ‘durable relationships’ led to scaremongering and played into the hands of the opponents of change," the former Mayor stated.

Mr Ó hArgáin also told the Kilkenny People that he did not meet 'a single voter' who had been canvassed by any of the government parties in Kilkenny on the referenda.

"There were no posters, leaflets or any of the other normal communications of referendum campaigns. To hear the Chairperson of the Referendum Commission complain last week that they did not have time to ensure every house received the commission’s information booklet says it all. What is the point in having a commission if we needlessly rush campaigns with all the expense involved to citizens and taxpayers?" 

The Labour Party election candidate concluded by saying: "It is now urgent that the government apologises to all of these groups for their fiasco of a campaign. They should learn from the marriage equality and other campaigns and build a real consensus among citizens and the campaign groups involved in seeking change. My own view is that this Government is incapable of achieving this. We need a general election as soon as possible. I will call for the Labour Party to lead the debate on future constitutional change but more importantly to lead the campaign for proper funding and provision for carers."