If the upcoming care referendum is defeated in March, and Sinn Féin manages to form a future government, they will run the vote again, the party has said.
The announcement was made this week as the party launched its campaign supporting a “Yes” vote in both of the upcoming referendums on family and care, which is set to take place on March 8th.
Sinn Féin representatives said that the party’s decision to back the care referendum came after “detailed deliberation,” as the party believes that the proposed amendment should have gone further.
The amendment in question proposes removing the Constitution’s reference to the support that women offer the state through domestic work, and replacing this with a “gender-neutral” reference to the care that family members give to one another.
Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that while this suggested change would be a “positive step forward,” it is not the “comprehensive, copper-fastened” recognition of care that is required.
“So yes, we had to weigh that up,” she said.
“In the end we decided not to allow the perfect be the enemy of the good.”
She said that while some carers viewed the proposed changed as a “positive, if imperfect, step forward,” others see it as “little more than lip service.”
McDonald said that if the referendum was defeated and the ‘No’ vote was victorious, and Sinn Féin was in Government, she would plan to run it again “early in our term” with the proposed wording from the Citizens’ Assembly. This would involve referring to care not just in the home, but in society at large.