Sir, – I will be voting No in the upcoming referendum.
I do not want the very small acknowledgement of my role and my work in the home to be removed from our Constitution.
The article in question is symbolic, a token, at best; we all know that the State does not actually do much to enable women who would like to give up work outside the home in order to raise their children. In the current economic climate, most parents cannot afford to sacrifice an income if they want to own, or even rent, a house.
Neither do I want the article to be replaced with gender-neutral waffle so that we can all pretend to be living in a perfect world where domestic work, the bearing, feeding and care of children, and the care when it’s needed of family elders and other dependents is shared equally between men and women. It isn’t! We all know it isn’t; the 2022 census showed that 90 per cent of people filling this role were women.
‘I want to be alone’: Greta Garbo, sure. Daniel Day-Lewis, maybe not so much after all
Pat Leahy: Trouble at the top? Relations between Simon Harris and Micheál Martin are frayed
‘I crossed the river for both my wife and my chips’: End of an era for Lennox’s chipper in Cork
TV guide: the best new shows to watch this week, beginning tonight
Let’s be open and honest about the differences between the sexes. Men are not women. Fathers are not mothers (ask the vast majority of parents who their child wants when they are feeling sick? Mum, of course!).
Women are in no way constrained by our Constitution (I was raised by a mother who worked full time in a fulfilling career). It simply states that we have a right, not an obligation, to stay home with our children if we wish.
Instead of abolishing or amending this article, why don’t we hold the State to it?
Think of the benefit to the children of Ireland, and thus to Ireland itself, if family and home were prioritised. A stable foundation at home leads to happy, healthy, and well-adjusted adults. – Yours, etc,
CATHERINE MONAGHAN,
Ashford,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – I have worked full time for my entire life .
I am now retired, but neither I nor any of my friends or colleagues have ever been impacted in any way by Article 41 of the Constitution.
It does not have any impact on women working in the career of their choice in this country.
After all, we have had two female presidents over the last 30 years .
Why then are the Government parties pushing forward with this needless referendum that will make absolutely no difference to women?
Given the horrendous problems with the HSE, homelessness, the refugee crisis, etc, it is a disgrace that the Government is spending millions on this needless referendum.
I will be definitely be voting No. – Yours, etc,
MARY DARBY,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.