Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
The Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution is an amendment to the constitution of Ireland which removed the constitution's requirement to criminalise "publication or utterance of blasphemous matter". The amendment was effected by an act of the Oireachtas — the Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Act 2018, which was introduced (as bill no. 87 of 2018) in Dáil Éireann, passed by the Dáil and Seanad, approved by the people in a referendum, before it was signed into law by the president.
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The bill was introduced to the Oireachtas on 13 July 2018 by the Fine Gael minority coalition government. A referendum was held on 26 October, on the same date as the presidential election.[1] A second referendum on whether to remove an article referring to women's place in the home, originally scheduled for the same date, was postponed, taking place on 8 March 2024.[2]
The amendment was approved by nearly 65% of the voters, and by a majority in every Dáil constituency.[3] It was signed into law by the president on 27 November 2018.[4] It was followed by separate legislation in 2019 to remove the crime of blasphemy from the statute book.
Background edit
The publication or utterance of blasphemous matter is an offence specified by the Constitution of Ireland as an exception to general guarantee of the right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions. In Corway v Independent Newspapers (1999), the Supreme Court held that the common law crime of blasphemous libel related to an established church and could not have survived the enactment of the Constitution. They also held that it was impossible to say what the offence of blasphemy consisted of.[5]
The offence of publishing or uttering blasphemous matter was first defined in Irish law in the Defamation Act 2009. Someone is guilty of the offence if they publish or utter "matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion", and they intend, "by the publication or utterance of the matter concerned, to cause such outrage". There is a broad defence where "a reasonable person would find genuine literary, artistic, political, scientific, or academic value in the matter to which the offence relates".[6] To date, there has not been a public prosecution for the offence of blasphemy in the Irish state.
The Constitutional Convention held a session in November 2013, where they proposed replacing the offence of blasphemy in the Constitution with a prohibition on the incitement of religious hatred.
The matter came to public attention, in May 2017, when it was announced that English comedian Stephen Fry, along with broadcaster RTÉ, were under criminal investigation for blasphemy under the Act, following a complaint from a member of the public about comments made by Fry in a 2015 broadcast interviewed with veteran Irish broadcaster Gay Byrne. The case was dropped after Gardaí confirmed that they had not been able to locate a sufficient number of offended people.[7]
In June 2018, Minister for Justice and Equality Charles Flanagan announced that the government would hold a referendum to simply remove the reference to the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution.[8]
Changes to the text edit
The Thirty-seventh Amendment amended the final sentence of paragraph i of subsection 1° of Article 40.6 by substituting "seditious" for "blasphemous, seditious,".[9][10] The original text read:
The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.[10]
The text as amended reads:
The publication or utterance of seditious or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law.
Subsequent legislation edit
The Department of Justice and Equality's draft general scheme for subsequent legislation proposed that the Government introduce a formal Bill to repeal sections 36 and 37 of the Defamation Act 2009, which dealt with the 'Publication or utterance of blasphemous matter' and the 'Seizure of copies of blasphemous statements' respectively,[11][12] as well as to replace the words "indecent, obscene, or blasphemous" by "indecent or obscene" in the Censorship of Films Act 1923 as amended by the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008, and in the Censorship of Films (Amendment) Act 1925.[12] The Blasphemy (Abolition of Offences and Related Matters) Act 2019, enacted on 17 January 2020, removed these offences from statute law.
Passage through the Oireachtas edit
The Bill was proposed by Minister Charlie Flanagan and passed all stage in the Dáil on 18 September and all stages of the Seanad on 20 September.[13] Amendments by Solidarity to remove other religious references from the Constitution were ruled out of order.[14][15] It was opposed in the Seanad by Rónán Mullen.[16]
Campaign edit
A Referendum Commission to provide information to the public on the proposed amendment was established on 18 July 2018.[17] Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government Eoghan Murphy signed the electoral order for the referendum on 21 September, setting the polling date as 26 October.[18][19]
By 17 October, there had been little public debate about the referendum, leading The Irish Times to suggest that this might cause most "Don't know" voters to end up voting "No" as had happened before in similar little-debated referendums, although it still expected the referendum to be carried based on the most recent opinion poll of 12 October.[20]
For edit
Those who supported removing blasphemy from the constitution included:
- Fine Gael[21]
- Fianna Fáil[22]
- Sinn Féin[23]
- Labour Party[24]
- Green Party[25]
- People Before Profit[26]
- Social Democrats[27]
- Irish Council for Civil Liberties[28]
- Church of Ireland[29]
- Atheist Ireland[30]
- Justice Minister Charles Flanagan[31]
- Senator Ivana Bacik[32]
- Michael Nugent of Atheist Ireland[32]
Not opposed edit
- Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, who called the provision "obsolete" and said that similar laws have been used to justify violence and oppression against minorities in other parts of the world.[33][34]
Against edit
Those who opposed removing blasphemy from the constitution included:
- Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland[35][36]
- Senator Rónán Mullen[31]
- Séamas de Barra of Alliance for the Defence of Marriage and the Family[32]
- Colum Kenny of DCU School of Communications[32]
Opinion and exit polling edit
| Last date of polling | Polling firm / Commissioner | Sample size | Yes | No | Undecided | Lead | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 September 2018 | Amárach/Claire Byrne Live poll for TheJournal.ie[37] | over 1,000 | 54% | 17% | 29% | 37% | ||
| 12 October 2018 | Ipsos MBRI/The Irish Times[20] | 1,200 | 51% | 19% | 25%[a] | 32% | ||
| Exit polls | ||||||||
| 26 October 2018 | Ipsos MBRI/The Irish Times[38] | 4,365 | 69% | 31% | — | 38% | ||
| 26 October 2018 | Red C/RTÉ News[39] | 3,474 | 71.1% | 26.3% | — | 44.8%[b] | ||
Voting edit
The referendum took place on 26 October 2018, on the same day as the presidential election. Polling stations were open from 7 am until 10 pm. Turnout was reported to be low in many areas of the country. By midday, turnout percentages from around the country were in the low teens, with many polling stations reporting single figure percentages. In Dublin some estimates suggested that turnout would be half that of the referendum on the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland in May.[40]
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 951,650 | 64.85 |
| No | 515,808 | 35.15 |
| Valid votes | 1,467,458 | 98.51 |
| Invalid or blank votes | 22,236 | 1.49 |
| Total votes | 1,489,694 | 100.00 |
| Registered voters/turnout | 3,401,652 | 43.79 |
| Constituency | Electorate | Turnout (%) | Votes | Proportion of votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | Yes | No | |||
| Carlow–Kilkenny | 108,863 | 45.90% | 30,438 | 18,699 | 61.95% | 38.05% |
| Cavan–Monaghan | 91,692 | 41.77% | 21,045 | 16,462 | 56.11% | 43.89% |
| Clare | 83,044 | 50.31% | 25,386 | 15,635 | 61.89% | 38.11% |
| Cork East | 86,180 | 44.53% | 23,751 | 14,046 | 62.84% | 37.16% |
| Cork North-Central | 84,919 | 41.55% | 22,379 | 12,452 | 64.25% | 35.75% |
| Cork North-West | 68,820 | 50.14% | 20,086 | 13,708 | 59.44% | 40.56% |
| Cork South-Central | 88,074 | 45.87% | 27,381 | 12,588 | 68.51% | 31.49% |
| Cork South-West | 63,897 | 48.33% | 18,800 | 11,404 | 62.24% | 37.76% |
| Donegal | 119,318 | 33.68% | 20,312 | 19,108 | 51.53% | 48.47% |
| Dublin Bay North | 114,597 | 44.56% | 36,649 | 13,930 | 72.46% | 27.54% |
| Dublin Bay South | 80,146 | 36.69% | 22,329 | 6,866 | 76.48% | 23.52% |
| Dublin Central | 48,588 | 31.75% | 11,359 | 3,908 | 74.40% | 25.60% |
| Dublin Fingal | 96,612 | 44.72% | 31,645 | 11,267 | 73.74% | 26.26% |
| Dublin Mid-West | 72,006 | 40.75% | 20,449 | 8,632 | 70.32% | 29.68% |
| Dublin North-West | 62,726 | 37.99% | 16,722 | 6,907 | 70.77% | 29.23% |
| Dublin Rathdown | 65,918 | 48.44% | 23,510 | 8,182 | 74.18% | 25.82% |
| Dublin South-Central | 73,567 | 38.12% | 20,214 | 7,562 | 72.78% | 27.22% |
| Dublin South-West | 107,134 | 42.71% | 32,651 | 12,853 | 71.75% | 28.25% |
| Dublin West | 67,625 | 42.31% | 20,261 | 8,092 | 71.46% | 28.54% |
| Dún Laoghaire | 96,825 | 46.88% | 33,988 | 11,095 | 75.39% | 24.61% |
| Galway East | 70,302 | 48.42% | 20,248 | 12,981 | 60.93% | 39.07% |
| Galway West | 109,523 | 43.74% | 30,917 | 16,063 | 65.81% | 34.19% |
| Kerry | 111,777 | 45.12% | 28,373 | 20,873 | 57.61% | 42.39% |
| Kildare North | 86,305 | 44.13% | 27,399 | 10,284 | 72.71% | 27.29% |
| Kildare South | 63,929 | 41.06% | 17,374 | 8,510 | 67.12% | 32.88% |
| Laois | 64,139 | 43.43% | 16,314 | 11,060 | 59.60% | 40.40% |
| Limerick City | 79,647 | 41.60% | 21,702 | 10,948 | 66.47% | 33.53% |
| Limerick County | 68,740 | 46.53% | 18,450 | 12,880 | 58.89% | 41.11% |
| Longford–Westmeath | 92,354 | 41.45% | 22,637 | 15,008 | 60.13% | 39.87% |
| Louth | 110,256 | 41.28% | 29,532 | 15,451 | 65.65% | 34.35% |
| Mayo | 91,412 | 45.91% | 23,305 | 17,630 | 56.93% | 43.07% |
| Meath East | 68,591 | 43.47% | 19,671 | 9,798 | 66.75% | 33.25% |
| Meath West | 66,848 | 40.61% | 16,768 | 9,988 | 62.67% | 37.33% |
| Offaly | 66,208 | 45.35% | 16,919 | 12,544 | 57.42% | 42.58% |
| Roscommon–Galway | 64,857 | 49.20% | 17,466 | 13,709 | 56.03% | 43.97% |
| Sligo–Leitrim | 96,653 | 43.99% | 23,380 | 18,297 | 56.10% | 43.90% |
| Tipperary | 114,433 | 48.30% | 32,209 | 21,985 | 59.43% | 40.57% |
| Waterford | 83,359 | 43.28% | 23,517 | 12,016 | 66.18% | 33.82% |
| Wexford | 111,897 | 43.92% | 31,085 | 17,315 | 64.23% | 35.77% |
| Wicklow | 99,871 | 50.68% | 35,029 | 15,072 | 69.92% | 30.08% |
| Total | 3,401,652 | 43.79% | 951,650 | 515,808 | 64.85% | 35.15% |
Analysis edit
The Irish Times's analysis of its exit poll data said that "younger voters overwhelmingly backed deletion, while older voters were much more evenly split, with 48 per cent voting to retain the constitutional article as it currently stands".[38]
RTÉ noted that given that the presidential election had received far more attention, it had been expected that there would be more abstainers than the 1.8% reported in its exit poll data.[39]
When analysing the Red C/RTÉ exit poll,[39] RTÉ Religious and Social Affairs Correspondent Joe Little said that older voters were less likely to vote Yes, with over 8 out of 10 voting Yes among those aged under 44, 7 out of 10 among those aged under 45 to 64, and 6 out of 10 among those aged over 65.[42] Support for No also increased in the lower socio-economic groups, with 77% of those in the top ABC1 group voting Yes, 70% of the C2DE group, and 63% of the bottom F group.[42] Sinn Féin voters were likeliest to vote Yes, followed by those voting Fine Gael, Independent, Labour, and Fianna Fáil.[42] Women and men were equally likely to vote Yes.[42] 80% voted Yes in County Dublin, slightly over 70% in Munster, and slightly under 70% in the rest of Leinster, and in Connacht and the three border counties of Ulster (Donegal, Cavan, and Monaghan).[42] Only 69% said that "they understood the proposition to abolish the offence in the Constitution" (74% of Yes voters, and 64% of No voters).[42]
References edit
Sources edit
- Referendum Commission (15 February 2019). "Report on the Referendum on Blasphemy" (PDF). Dublin. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
- "Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Act 2018". Irish Statute Book. Attorney General of Ireland. 27 November 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
Citations edit
- ^ Bardon, Sarah (23 June 2018). "President tells Government of intention to seek second term". The Irish Times. from the original on 9 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ McMorrow, Conor (5 September 2018). "Referendum on place of women in the home deferred". RTÉ News. from the original on 5 September 2018. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "Elections Ireland: Referendum 26 October 2018 Repeal of Blasphemy Offence". www.electionsireland.org. from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ "Presidential website". from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
- ^ Corway v Independent Newspapers [1999] IESC 5
- ^ "Defamation Act 2009, Section 36". Irish Statute Book. Office of the Attorney General. 23 July 2009. from the original on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ McMahon, Cathal (8 May 2017). "Stephen Fry blasphemy probe dropped after gardaí fail to find 'substantial number of outraged people'". the Irish Independent. from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ "Minister Flanagan announces Government approval for the holding of a Referendum on the removal of the offence of blasphemy from the Constitution". 12 June 2018. from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ "Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018" (PDF). Houses of the Oireachtas. 13 July 2018. (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
- ^ a b Constitution of Ireland (PDF). Department of the Taoiseach. February 2015. (PDF) from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
(page 152) FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS - PERSONAL RIGHTS - ARTICLE 40 ...
(page 160) 6 1° The State guarantees liberty for the exercise of the following rights, subject to public order and morality: –
i The right of the citizens to express freely their convictions and opinions.
The education of public opinion being, however, a matter of such grave import to the common good, the State shall endeavour to ensure that organs of public opinion, such as the radio, the press, the cinema, while preserving their rightful liberty of expression, including criticism of Government policy, shall not be used to undermine public order or morality or the authority of the State.
The publication or utterance of blasphemous, seditious, or indecent matter is an offence which shall be punishable in accordance with law. - ^ "Explainer: What is the upcoming blasphemy referendum about?". TheJournal.ie. 23 September 2018. from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
- ^ a b "Draft of General Scheme of the Repeal of Offence of Publication or Utterance of Blasphemous Matter Act 2018" (PDF). Department of Justice and Equality. 2018. (PDF) from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ^ "Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018 (Bill 87 of 2018)". Houses of the Oireachtas. 20 September 2018. from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee and Remaining Stages". Houses of the Oireachtas. 18 September 2018. from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee Amendments" (PDF). Houses of the Oireachtas. 17 September 2018. (PDF) from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Second Stage". Houses of the Oireachtas. 20 September 2018. from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "S.I. No. 255/2018 - Referendum Commission (Establishment) (No. 2) Order 2018". Irish Statute Book. 18 July 2018. from the original on 6 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- ^ "Blasphemy referendum to go ahead on October 26th as Minister signs order". The Irish Times. from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018". Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. 21 September 2018. from the original on 28 September 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
- ^ a b Pat Leahy (17 October 2018). "Blasphemy offence on course to be removed from Constitution". The Irish Times. from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
- ^ "We must vote yes to remove the crime of blasphemy from our Constitution – Flanagan". Fine Gael. 18 October 2018. from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ . Fianna Fáil. 19 October 2018. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Sinn Féin calls for Yes vote in Blasphemy referendum". Sinn Féin. 20 October 2018. from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
- ^ "Liam van der Spek Welcomes Referendum on Removal of Blasphemy Offence". Labour Party. 13 October 2018. from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Green call for Yes Vote in Blasphemy Referendum". Green Party. 19 October 2018. from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Blasphemy – There Is More To It Than Just A Word". People Before Profit. 10 October 2018. from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "SocDems urge Yes vote to rid Constitution of blasphemy offence". Social Democrats. 20 October 2018. from the original on 1 February 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2019.
- ^ "ICCL calls for YES vote in Blasphemy Referendum". Irish Council for Civil Liberties. 27 September 2018. from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Church of Ireland backs removal of blasphemy offence". The Irish Times. 17 October 2018. from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
- ^ "Atheist Ireland: Referendum on blasphemy about freedom of speech". Irish Examiner. 30 September 2018. from the original on 5 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Minister Charlie Flanagan and Senator Ronan Mullen on the blasphemy referendum". RTÉ. 24 October 2018. from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Watch: Reasons to vote in the blasphemy referendum". RTÉ. 24 October 2018. from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
Senator Ivana Bacik - Yes; Séamas de Barra, Alliance for the Defence of Marriage and the Family - No; Dr Colum Kenny, DCU School of Communications - No; Michael Nugent, Atheist Ireland - Yes
- ^ McNeice, Stephen (3 October 2018). "Irish bishops say constitutional article on blasphemy is 'largely obsolete'". Newstalk. from the original on 4 October 2018. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
- ^ Conor Gallagher (3 October 2018). "Constitutional blasphemy clause 'largely obsolete', Bishops decide". The Irish Times. from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
Rights of religious communities to engage in public debate must be respected, conference states
- ^ "Religious groups back removal of blasphemy from the Constitution" 24 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine. Irish Independent, 23 October 2018.
- ^ "Blasphemy, Stephen Fry and referendum in Ireland" 23 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News, 20 October 2018.
- ^ "A significant number of people don't know how they're going to vote in the blasphemy referendum". TheJournal.ie. 23 September 2018. from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ^ a b Pat Leahy, Political Editor (26 October 2018). "Michael D Higgins on course for decisive first-count victory as Peter Casey surges into second place". The Irish Times. from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
{{cite news}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ a b c "RTÉ exit poll suggests blasphemy referendum will pass". RTÉ News. 26 October 2018. from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Martina (26 October 2018). "Polls close in Presidential and referendum votes". RTÉ News. from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Results". Referendum Commission. 27 October 2018. from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f Joe Little, Religious & Social Affairs Correspondent (27 October 2018). "Older voters less likely to back removal of blasphemy - poll". RTÉ News. from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
External links edit
- Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018 Oireachtas debates and amendments
- Previous Referendums: Referendum on Blasphemy Referendum Commission