Sinn Fein to campaign Yes Yes in referenda despite ‘imperfect’ care amendment

Sinn Fein is to campaign for a Yes vote in both referenda, despite having concerns about the wording on care.

Party leader Mary Lou McDonald said the care amendment referendum was “an opportunity missed” by Government, and accused it of having an “abysmal track record” on families and carers.

She said that if the care amendment was rejected in March, her “ambition” would be to put the Citizens’ Assembly’s suggested wording to the Irish public “early” in to a Sinn Fein term in government.

She said that the removal of “sexist” language around a woman’s duties in the home was a “yes, all day every day”, and that the idea of recognising care in the constitution was “powerful”.

“But the problem is that the Government in their haste failed to consult properly to actually adopt the work that had been done by the Citizens’ Assembly,” she said.

“In the end, we decided not to allow the perfect be the enemy of the good.

“We’re campaigning for a Yes Yes, but we’re also recognising that people are going to have to think about this carefully.

“I have spoken to many, many carers who believe this should be grasped as a positive if imperfect step forward.

“But I have spoken to others who are angered at the Government’s track record on these matters and see this as little more than lip service.”

Two referenda will be held on March 8 – International Women’s Day – proposing to change the Irish constitution.

One, the family amendment, proposes amending Article 41 of the constitution to extend the meaning of family beyond one defined by marriage and include those based on “durable” relationships.

The second, the care amendment, proposes deleting Article 41.2.1 and 41.2.2, which make reference to a woman’s roles and duties in the home, and replace it with a new article – 42B – that acknowledges family carers.

The Government parties, Labour, the Social Democrats, the National Women’s Council, One Family and Treoir are all advocating for a Yes vote in both referenda.

TD Peadar Toibin’s Aontu party and Senator Ronan Mullen are among those advocating for a No vote in both plebiscites.

Some organisations, such as Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac), are advocating for a Yes vote for the family amendment and a No vote for the care amendment.

Senator Lynn Boylan, who is the party’s campaign director, said it was “only right that the hundreds and thousands of families that don’t fit in to the marital family are recognised by the constitution”.

She said that voting yes to the family amendment was about a “sense of fairness” for families such as her own, which she described as a co-habiting couple for 14 years.

On the care amendment, the party set out five proposals to support carers and families: support carers through increased provision of respite services; increase access such as home support, personal assistance, day services, therapies and community services; relax the means test for the Carer’s Allowance and increase other social benefits; invest in special education and hire more SNAs; and provide more childcare places and cut childcare fees.

A note about republican activist and politician Kathleen Clarke features on the party’s leaflet calling for a Yes Yes vote, saying she believed the constitution fell short of the equality set out in the 1916 proclamation.

“It is important to remember that those feminists from 1916 campaigned vigorously against the wording around the woman going into the constitution,” Ms Lynn said.

“They could see this was problematic, that it was conservative and that the proclamation had said everybody was equal and now the constitution was undermining that by assigning women a role that was domesticated. They’re vindicated now.”