Children's rights groups yesterday welcomed the Taoiseach's call for a referendum which would strengthen the rights of children in the Constitution.
The Children's Rights Alliance, a coalition of 80 non-governmental organisations, said it was an extremely significant development for all children in Ireland.
"Strengthening the rights of children in the Constitution will have a real and positive impact on children's lives. We, as a society, need to value and protect childhood," Jillian van Turnhout, the alliance's chief executive, said. "On a number of occasions over the past year, the Irish public has made clear its concern about the present situation and its desire that greater protection be afforded to children."
The alliance has been asked to lead a consultation process with the non-governmental sector in relation to formulation of a wording for the proposed amendment.
Ms van Turnhout said the alliance will aim to generate a consensus regarding a proposed wording. "The alliance believes Irish society can amend the Constitution to give greater protection to children without diminishing the very important role of the family," she said.
The children's charity Barnardos, which is due to begin a campaign on the wording of a constitutional amendment on Monday, also welcomed the announcement.
It will publish a draft amendment for insertion into the Constitution which focuses on protecting the welfare of children.
The charity will also release details of a national opinion poll relating to people's voting intentions in the event of a referendum.
Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay said: "We strongly welcome the decision of the Taoiseach to hold a referendum, and we will be making every effort to ensure the referendum itself, and the debate that precedes it, will make a real, meaningful and lasting change to the children of Ireland.
"Our intention is to contribute to the debate around protecting the welfare of children living in Ireland. To that end, we are delighted to have had the benefit of combined expert legal guidance in relation to the wording we are proposing."
He said the charity will be advocating the strongest possible insertion into the Constitution, to ensure that the welfare of children is always a paramount consideration in future.
Geoffrey Shannon, a solicitor and expert on family law, also welcomed the Taoiseach's announcement.
Mr Shannon, who has campaigned for greater recognition of children's rights in the Constitution for a decade, said a wording should contain a specific declaration on the rights of the child.
"Under the current wording of the Constitution, some children are seriously disadvantaged and are vulnerable to having second-best choices made for them by the absence of a provision protecting their interests. The Constitution should be amended to contain a specific declaration on the rights of children."
Mr Shannon, appointed as a special rapporteur to the Government on child protection earlier this year, had indicated to an Oireachtas committee that a declaration could include provisions such as the need for a child to be protected from harm or ill-treatment.
Deirdre Fitzpatrick, advocacy director at One in Four, the charity which supports victims of sexual abuse, called on each political party "to co-operate and work towards a common agreement on the wording of the amendment that ensures the highest possible standards of child protection and welfare for all children".
Also welcoming the Taoiseach's statement, Margaret Burns, social policy officer with the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, said "it is now critically important that the wording to be put before the people in the referendum is appropriate."
The National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) has described the Taoiseach's proposal to hold a referendum as "groundbreaking".
Welcoming the proposal, James Doorley, assistant director of the NYCI, said the council would work with the Government and Opposition to frame constitutional provisions ensuring that the human rights of children and young people were properly enshrined in our Constitution.
"We also hope that the Government will follow its own best practice guidelines by consulting young people on issues that directly relate to them, and hope that young people's voices will be heard throughout this debate."
Treoir, the national federation of services for unmarried parents and their children, said it strongly supported the Taoiseach's call.
