The Irish Times reports this morning that the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution will advise the Government next week not to change the definition of the family as being based on marriage due to fears it could lead to a divisive referendum on gay marriage. Instead the report, based on a year-long process of public hearings and private deliberations, will recommend legislative change to provide civil partnerships for cohabiting and same-sex couples. These partnerships would extend "marriage-like" privileges by allowing for equality in areas such as taxation.
It seems that internal minutes of the meetings, seen by the Irish Times, showed a liberal-conservative split on the issue with FF, FG and the PDs being opposed to altering the traditional definition of the family on the grounds that it would seen as facilitating gay marriage and would thus spark a deeply divisive referendum along the lines of the highly charged abortion debates. Labour, Sinn Féin and the Greens on the other hand argued that the the basic democratic value of equality should extend to all forms of family life, such as lone parents or cohabiting couples with children.
And so it should. But this can be achieved by legislation rather than by referendum. As well as "marriage-like privileges", there is a raft of proposals dealing with the rights of children. It is the duty of parliament to legislate and not shirk those tough or unpopular choices by hiding behind referenda or, more commonly, allowing judges to decide how the constitution should be interpreted. There is a very significant role for judicial review in our constitutional governance but this is often the result of political pusillanimity and permitting the legislature to abdicate its responsibilities.
This All Party Committee seems to have done a good job. There were 8,000 detailed submissions and 16,000 petitions to be processed. Even though there were clear differences of views about the family it now looks like a consensus will produce significant legislative reform. It won't satisfy religious conservatives or militant secularists but at least we'll be spared the brainless posturing of suchlike during a referendum campaign.
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