Sir, – Senator Averil Power protests that several Independent TDs are opposed to holding a referendum on abortion, writing that "whether you agree with abortion or not, it is extraordinary that any 'democrat' would seek to deprive their fellow citizens of an opportunity to have their say" (April 13th). This is a very strange viewpoint on a number of levels.
First, under the Constitution the right to call a referendum, and to formulate the text to be put before the people, rests with the Dáil and Seanad. Therefore TDs have an inherent right to support or oppose any proposed referendum on any issue.
Is Ms Power suggesting that the Oireachtas should completely abdicate this constitutional responsibility and support any and all proposals for referendums? What kind of “democrats” would that make them?
Second, since any referendum on this issue would almost certainly propose some radical liberalisation of the law on abortion, surely it is entirely legitimate for TDs who oppose this outcome to oppose the holding of a referendum?
Ms Power was prominent in the 2015 referendum campaign on same-sex marriage. If a group of TDs proposed to hold a referendum to reverse the outcome, would Ms Power support the holding of such a referendum, in the interests of “debate”? I sincerely doubt it, and yet this is the logical extension of the point made in her letter.
Ms Power also says that no one under the age of 50 has had a chance to vote on this issue. In fact, the last referendum on abortion was held in March 2002, which means that everyone over the age of 32 has had a chance to vote on the topic.
The vast majority of the 50 articles of our Constitution have never been the subject of any referendum since its enactment in 1937, and so no living voter has had a chance to have their say on them. Should we have referendum on each and every section for this reason, and then repeat the process every 20 years or so? That is a plainly ludicrous position. – Yours, etc,
THOMAS RYAN, BL
Harold’s Cross,
Dublin 6W.