Referendum result damning for political leadership class

The Government and the main opposition parties have a lot to think about. They should start by apologising to the people today, writes Rónán Mullen

The people of Ireland have had their first chance in four years to give their view as an electorate on the way they are being governed. This referendum result is their verdict on the political leadership class and it is a damning one.

Faced with secretly drawn-up proposals to dilute the significance of marriage for family life, and to dishonour women and motherhood by removing the only direct reference to their interests in Bunreacht na hEireann, and observing the ruthless way in which debate on these proposals was suppressed in the Dáil and Seanad, the people have – I think it is fair to say – snapped back. They weren’t confused. They knew what they were voting for. They didn’t like it. And they rejected it massively. The Irish people can be led. But they won’t be pushed.
The arrogance, secrecy, insider-ism, and sometimes duplicity, that characterised the selling of the so-called ‘Family’ and ‘Care’ referendums, not just by the Government and their allies in State-funded NGOs but also by the main opposition parties, Sinn Féin and the parties of the Left, has got the response it deserved. This arrogancy and insider-ism has characteristed the Government’s handling of a whole range of issues in recent years – from aspects of public health management during the pandemic, to controversies in recent times around migration and gender and the pushing of ideology at children in schools. In all these areas, we see a Government that seems to be in a propaganda war against its own people, unwilling to face up to or even acknowledge the existence of hard questions, mainly backed up by opposition parties who largely share their point of view that the people are not to be trusted, and a media that seems too often worried about biting the hand that feeds it.

The Government must apologise to people on this specific point and the main opposition parties should acknowledge their complicity in this”

The result is a loss of faith among many ordinary people in our democratic institutions. And to the rise of the citizen journalist and the citizen politician. Because the people do not want faceless people, with names we don’t know and no accountability to us, shaping our destiny.
Today we see a resounding defeat for the Government, Sinn Féin and other parties (with the honourable exception of Aontú). There are lessons to be learned:

-You can’t put referendum questions to the people without properly teasing them out in the Oireachtas first. The Government must apologise to people on this specific point and the main opposition parties should acknowledge their complicity in this.

-You can’t hijack the apparatus and resources of the State to push through your own ideological agenda. In that context, the three Government parties should be pressured to fundraise to pay back between €15m and €20m of taxpayers’ money that they squandered on a standalone referendum.

-You can’t ignore for years the importance of promoting marriage as the bedrock of a stable society and then try to get rid of the only Constitutional incentive to marriage. The Government must now, in the light of today’s result, commit to policies to promote marriage as an institution that serves our society well.

– You can’t use a promised recognition of care as the carrot to entice people to get rid of the only bit of Constitutional support that’s there for mothers and the vital work they do for us all. The Government must reflect on what it must do in future to promote recognition for fathers and carers without diluting the special Constitutional pledge to support motherhood.

Groupthink

The Government must stop playing ideological games. The resounding reaffirmation of family life, marriage and the role of mothers, and the rejection of NGO-sponsored groupthink means the Government should press the pause button on its culture war policies, including to name three:

Right now, the Independents and Aontú are the only show in town telling the truth to people”

– Its controversial hate speech legislation, with its lack of definition of hate and its strange new definition of gender; this bill threatens our political freedom of expression.

– The abuse of the education system to promote gender ideology.

– Any legislation that would try to underpin surrogacy, which turns children into commodities.
Right now, the Independents and Aontú are the only show in town telling the truth to people. That culture wars and ideology are the Government’s focus, not the real challenges that people are facing in their lives.

Concerns

Finally, there are two major concerns that have arisen in this campaign. One is the extent of mistruths peddled at the highest levels of Government. This brings politics into disrepute and cannot go unchallenged. Number two is the apparent abuse of the McKenna judgement principles which forbid the spending of public money on advocating one side of a referendum. When an organisation like the National Women’s Council, which gets 95% of its staffing costs from the State, is leading one side of a referendum campaign without any consultation with ordinary women across the country, you see another blatant case of insider-ism and the abuse of taxpayers’ money. The Government and the main opposition parties have a lot to think about. They should start by apologising to the people today.