Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said at a press conference in Dublin, ‘The government has supported the proposed changes, which would have broadened the definition of the family and shed light on the duties of women in society.
‘I think it’s clear that the family amendment and the care amendment referendums have been defeated’ said Varadkar.
The votes are the present attempt to reflect the changing face of European Union member Ireland, and the influence of the once-dominant Catholic Church.
It was clear that counting was showing a trend towards a “No” by 1200 GMT on the two questions about care and family.
He further said the referendums had been defeated on a respectable turnout and it was our accountability to convince a majority of people to vote yes.
‘I think we struggled to convince people of the need for the referendum, let alone detail the wording’ said the Irish PM.
The two proposals – called the family amendment and the care amendment – focus on changing the text of Article 41 in the Irish constitution, written in 1937.
The first asked citizens to expand the explanation of family from those founded on marriage to also include relationships such as cohabiting couples and their children.
The second proposed restoring old-fashioned language around a mother’s duties in the home with a clause recognizing care provided by family members to one another.
The core legal text of the nation, the constitution, could only be modified through a national referendum.
The country of 5.3 million selected to end constitutional limits on the same-sex-marriage in 2015 and abortion in 2018.
All the political parties had supported a “Yes-Yes” vote and until recently polls anticipated a smooth passage for both on International Women’s Day.
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