Twenty-one years ago a substantial majority of the Irish people - 63 per cent - voted in a referendum against the legalisation of divorce. In 1995 divorce was approved by the minutest of margins: 50.3 to 49.7 per cent. Today, were a referendum held on the issue, The Irish Times/TNSmrbi poll finds that 75 per cent would vote in favour .
lt is a striking measure of how attitudes have evolved in two decades and particularly since divorce became legal 10 years ago in February 1997 when the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 came into force. A comparison between today's poll and an exit poll conducted for The Irish Timeson referendum day in 1995 shows that a dramatic attitudinal shift in favour of legalising divorce has occurred across all social classes, ages, sexes, and within urban and rural communities but particularly strongly in the groups most opposed. Today a broad social consensus of between 70 and 80 per cent in each category, except farmers, accepts the necessity of divorce law.
The poll finding that 64 per cent now accept that divorce has not undermined the institution of marriage, a key argument in both referendum campaigns, should play significantly into the debate on the legalisation of civil unions.
We do know that the legalisation of divorce has not dramatically affected the rate of marital breakdown - the increase in the number of married couples separating between 1996 and 2002 is roughly the same as the previous decade. It has not triggered a flood of applications to the courts for dissolutions - in 2005 some 4,126 applied, broadly the same as the previous three years. Also, the rate of marriage continues to rise: 20,723 in 2005, an increase of 5,000 on 1997.
But we know relatively little more about the way the system actually works. The understandable desire to maintain the privacy of applicants has meant that cases cannot be reported and judicial thinking and precedents in this area remain the preserve of Four Courts gossip.
Is the legislation working? Are the delays reasonable? What about the costs? Are men and women treated equitably? Which sex is more likely to initiate divorce? What are the evolving rules of thumb for the division of property? For the custody of children? For access? For maintenance? How many settle before the court gets to adjudicate? We need, as a society, to be aware of the answers to all these questions. We need to debate the changing nature of family in Ireland. Yet how can we have a debate with no facts?
Some elements should become clearer when the Courts Service later this month produces its first detailed report on the legal trends following the appointment last year of its first specialist family courts reporter. But we also need more social research on the dynamics of family life and the real effects on families of divorce.
Ten years on, we are in the dark. It is time to let in the light.