Workers’ Party Dublin City Councillor, Éilis Ryan, is calling on the newly established government to hold a referendum on the 8th Amendment to the constitution early in the lifetime of the present Dáil.
Cllr. Éilis Ryan
Cllr. Ryan said: “It is abundantly clear from numerous media polls that this is the wish of over 80% of the population. In spite of this, the Programme for Government contains four proposed referenda, but not one on the 8th amendment. For an issue on which no woman of reproductive age has ever had an opportunity to voice their opinion, to refer the 8th amendment to a weak, powerless Citizen’s Assembly makes no sense.”
The Workers’ Party believes the decision to refer the matter of repeal of the 8th Amendment to a Citizen’s Assembly is a delaying tactic to ensure that there will be no referendum on repeal of the 8th Amendment during the lifetime of the present Dáil. While it is proposed setting up the Assembly within six months it sets no deadline for reporting and because of its wide remit repeal of the 8th Amendment may be very far down its list of priorities.
Cllr. Ryan said: “Even if the Assembly was to complete its work and the government hold a referendum in three years, by that time over 13,000 more Irish women will have travelled abroad seeking abortion. The compromised welfare of 13,000 women is too high a price to pay for Fine Gael’s cowardice. We need a referendum now.”