LIFTING THE DIVORCE BAN
In 1995, by a narrow vote of 50.28% to 49.72%, Irish voters approved a
constitutional amendment allowing divorce. The margin of victory was just 9,118
votes out of 1.63 million cast, prompting a recount which finally upheld the result. In
1986, Irish voters had rejected the divorce amendment by a 2-to-1 margin.
According to political analysts, working-class residents of Dublin, the nation's capital,
who accounted for one-third of Ireland's population, provided the crucial swing vote
that determined the outcome.
Analysts attributed the change in attitude since 1986 to several factors. Many
cited as important the fact that the Irish government had passed 18 laws since the
failed referendum covering property rights, child custody, child support and other
issues related to divorce, because many people voting "no" in 1986 said that they
did so because of inadequate laws covering the divisions of property in a divorce.
Many analysts also pointed to the Irish government's $500,000 promotional
campaign in favour of lifting the divorce ban as an important factor in the
amendment's passage. Opponents of the amendment, including the influential
Roman Catholic church, said that they would challenge the result in the courts,
pointing to the fact that the government's expenditure of public funds to promote the
amendment was ruled illegal by the Irish Supreme Court. The amendment would
allow people to divorce only if they have lived separately for at least four of the
previous five years. There were approximately 80,000 legally separated people in
Ireland in 1995. With Ireland's vote, Malta became the only European country to
have a ban on divorce.
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