| Joe McCarroll | |
| Nationality: | Irish |
| Occupation: | Lecturer, Public Servant |
| Known For: | Anti-Divorce, Anti-Abortion campaigning |
| Office: | Chairman of Pro Life Campaign |
| Term Start: | March 1992 |
| Term End: | December 2015 |
| Office2: | Vice-Chairman of the Anti-Divorce Campaign |
| Term Start2: | January 1995 |
| Term End2: | November 1995 |
| Office3: | National Secretary of Family Solidarity |
Joe McCarroll is a conservative campaigner in Ireland. He has campaigned against abortion, same-sex marriage and divorce. McCarroll was a lecturer in ethics in Clonliffe College, Dublin. He also worked as an education officer with responsibility for school attendance, for Dublin Corporation. He was part of the editorial group of The Brandsma Review.[1] McCarroll also had a book, Is the school around the corner just the same, published by Brandsma Books. He also contributed to other publications and newspapers.
See also: Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland.
Joe McCarroll, along with Des Hanafin, is a founding member, and vice-chairman, of the Anti-Divorce Campaign,[2] which successfully campaigned for a No vote in the 1986 Divorce Referendum The Anti-Divorce Campaign unsuccessfully campaigned for a No vote in the 1995 divorce referendum.[3] [4] He warned that if it were to pass, people would be divorced against their will.
The referendum was passed by a slim margin, and after an unsuccessful court challenge by Des Hanafin, was signed into law in June 1996.[5]
See also: Pro Life Campaign.
Joe McCarroll co-founded the Pro Life Campaign in 1992, and was its chairman until December 2015. He was active in the PLC, speaking at seminars.[6] [7] [8] [9]
See also: Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2002 (Ireland).
While chairman of the Pro Life Campaign, McCarroll called for a 'yes' vote in the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 2002 (Ireland), which was rejected by the people in the referendum.[10] He said the proposed amendment was "not anti-woman" and would "put the unborn on the social radar screen" so that women with an unexpected pregnancy could be supported, and that the amendment would provide a very good barrier against "anyone smuggling in abortion and describing it as medical treatment."
In 1993, as national secretary of Family Solidarity, he campaigned against the decriminalisation of homosexuality, calling it "unnatural",.[11] In 2015, in the lead up to the marriage equality referendum, he campaigned against it, and called for a 'No' vote.[12] The referendum was passed.