Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland explained

Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution
Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter
Country:Ireland
Yes:951,650
No:515,808
Total:1,489,694
Electorate:3,401,652
Map:Blasphemy referendum 2018.svg

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.

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

See main article: Blasphemy law in the Republic of Ireland. 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

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] The original text read:

The text as amended reads:

Subsequent legislation

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,[10] 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.[11] 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

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.[12] Amendments by Solidarity to remove other religious references from the Constitution were ruled out of order.[13] [14] It was opposed in the Seanad by Rónán Mullen.[15]

Campaign

A Referendum Commission to provide information to the public on the proposed amendment was established on 18 July 2018.[16] 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.[17] [18]

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.

For

Those who supported removing blasphemy from the constitution included:

Not opposed

Against

Those who opposed removing blasphemy from the constitution included:

Opinion and exit polling

Last date
of polling		Polling firm / CommissionerSample sizeYesNoUndecidedLead
data-sort-value="2018-09-17" 17 September 2018 Amárach/Claire Byrne Live poll for TheJournal.ie[35] over 1,000 54% 17% 29% 37%
12 October 2018Ipsos MBRI/The Irish Times[36] 1,200 51% 19% 25%32%
Exit polls
26 October 2018Ipsos MBRI/The Irish Times[37] 4,36569% 31% —38%
26 October 2018Red C/RTÉ News[38] 3,47471.1% 26.3% —44.8%

Voting

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.[39]

Results by constituency
ConstituencyElectorateVotesProportion of votes
YesNoYesNo
Carlow–Kilkenny108,86345.90% 30,43818,69961.95%38.05%
Cavan–Monaghan91,69241.77%21,04516,46256.11%43.89%
Clare83,04450.31%25,38615,63561.89%38.11%
Cork East86,180 44.53% 23,751 14,046 62.84%37.16%
Cork North-Central84,91941.55% 22,37912,452 64.25% 35.75%
Cork North-West68,820 50.14%20,086 13,708 59.44% 40.56%
Cork South-Central88,074 45.87% 27,381 12,588 68.51% 31.49%
Cork South-West63,897 48.33% 18,800 11,404 62.24% 37.76%
Donegal119,31833.68% 20,31219,108 51.53% 48.47%
Dublin Bay North114,597 44.56% 36,649 13,930 72.46% 27.54%
Dublin Bay South80,146 36.69% 22,329 6,866 76.48% 23.52%
Dublin Central48,588 31.75% 11,359 3,908 74.40% 25.60%
Dublin Fingal96,612 44.72% 31,645 11,267 73.74% 26.26%
Dublin Mid-West72,006 40.75% 20,449 8,632 70.32% 29.68%
Dublin North-West62,726 37.99% 16,722 6,907 70.77% 29.23%
Dublin Rathdown65,918 48.44% 23,5108,182 74.18% 25.82%
Dublin South-Central73,567 38.12% 20,214 7,562 72.78% 27.22%
Dublin South-West107,134 42.71%32,651 12,853 71.75% 28.25%
Dublin West67,625 42.31% 20,2618,092 71.46% 28.54%
Dún Laoghaire96,825 46.88% 33,988 11,095 75.39% 24.61%
Galway East70,302 48.42% 20,24812,981 60.93% 39.07%
Galway West109,523 43.74% 30,91716,063 65.81% 34.19%
Kerry111,777 45.12% 28,373 20,873 57.61% 42.39%
Kildare North86,305 44.13% 27,39910,284 72.71% 27.29%
Kildare South63,929 41.06% 17,3748,510 67.12% 32.88%
Laois64,139 43.43% 16,31411,060 59.60% 40.40%
Limerick City79,647 41.60%21,70210,948 66.47% 33.53%
Limerick County68,740 46.53% 18,45012,880 58.89% 41.11%
Longford–Westmeath92,354 41.45% 22,63715,008 60.13% 39.87%
Louth110,256 41.28% 29,53215,451 65.65% 34.35%
Mayo91,412 45.91% 23,30517,630 56.93% 43.07%
Meath East68,591 43.47% 19,6719,798 66.75% 33.25%
Meath West66,848 40.61% 16,7689,988 62.67% 37.33%
Offaly66,208 45.35% 16,91912,544 57.42% 42.58%
Roscommon–Galway64,857 49.20% 17,46613,709 56.03% 43.97%
Sligo–Leitrim96,653 43.99% 23,38018,297 56.10% 43.90%
Tipperary114,433 48.30%32,20921,985 59.43% 40.57%
Waterford83,359 43.28% 23,51712,016 66.18% 33.82%
Wexford111,897 43.92% 31,085 17,315 64.23% 35.77%
Wicklow99,871 50.68% 35,02915,072 69.92% 30.08%
Total3,401,652 43.79% 951,650515,808 64.85% 35.15%

Analysis

The Irish Timess 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".[37]

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.[38]

When analysing the Red C/RTÉ exit poll,[38] 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.[40] 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.[40] Sinn Féin voters were likeliest to vote Yes, followed by those voting Fine Gael, Independent, Labour, and Fianna Fáil.[40] Women and men were equally likely to vote Yes.[40] 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).[40] Only 69% said that "they understood the proposition to abolish the offence in the Constitution" (74% of Yes voters, and 64% of No voters).[40]

References

Sources

Citations

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: President tells Government of intention to seek second term. 23 June 2018. 21 July 2018. The Irish Times. Sarah. Bardon. 9 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180709180601/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/president-tells-government-of-intention-to-seek-second-term-1.3540640. live.
  2. News: McMorrow . Conor . Referendum on place of women in the home deferred . 5 September 2018 . RTÉ News . 5 September 2018 . 5 September 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180905151410/https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2018/0905/991714-women-in-the-place-referendum/ . live .
  3. Web site: Elections Ireland: Referendum 26 October 2018 Repeal of Blasphemy Offence. www.electionsireland.org. 28 October 2018. 28 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181028073956/https://www.electionsireland.org/results/referendum/refresult.cfm?ref=201837R. live.
  4. Web site: Presidential website . 8 January 2019 . 8 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190108071640/https://president.ie/en/the-president/2018-legislation . live .
  5. Corway v Independent Newspapers . IESC . 1999 . 5.
  6. Web site: Defamation Act 2009, Section 36. 23 July 2009. 21 July 2018. Irish Statute Book. Office of the Attorney General. 5 February 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150205065823/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/2009/en/act/pub/0031/sec0036.html. live.
  7. News: Stephen Fry blasphemy probe dropped after gardaí fail to find 'substantial number of outraged people'. the Irish Independent. Cathal. McMahon. 8 May 2017. 26 October 2018. 25 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181025234327/https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/stephen-fry-blasphemy-probe-dropped-after-garda-fail-to-find-substantial-number-of-outraged-people-35692915.html. live.
  8. Web site: 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. 21 July 2018. 10 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180710010440/http://justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR18000186. live.
  9. Web site: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018. Houses of the Oireachtas. 13 July 2018. 23 September 2018. 23 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180923162850/https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2018/87/eng/initiated/b8718d.pdf. live.
  10. Web site: Explainer: What is the upcoming blasphemy referendum about?. TheJournal.ie. 23 September 2018. 23 September 2018. 23 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180923105334/http://www.thejournal.ie/blasphemy-referendum-thirty-seventh-amendment-explained-4241301-Sep2018/. live.
  11. News: Draft of General Scheme of the Repeal of Offence of Publication or Utterance of Blasphemous Matter Act 2018. Department of Justice and Equality. 2018. 13 October 2018. 13 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181013211604/http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/GENERAL%20SCHEME%20OF%20THE%20REPEAL%20OF%20OFFENCE%20OF%20PUBLICATION%20OR%20UTTERANCE%20OF%20BLASPHEMOUS%20MATTER%20BILL%202018.pdf/Files/GENERAL%20SCHEME%20OF%20THE%20REPEAL%20OF%20OFFENCE%20OF%20PUBLICATION%20OR%20UTTERANCE%20OF%20BLASPHEMOUS%20MATTER%20BILL%202018.pdf. live.
  12. Web site: 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. 21 September 2018. 21 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180921191030/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/2018/87/?tab=debates. live.
  13. Web site: 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. 21 September 2018. 21 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180921225845/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2018-09-18/33/. live.
  14. Web site: Thirty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution (Repeal of offence of publication or utterance of blasphemous matter) Bill 2018: Committee Amendments. Houses of the Oireachtas. 17 September 2018. 21 September 2018. 21 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180921225909/https://data.oireachtas.ie/ie/oireachtas/bill/2018/87/dail/3/amendment/numberedList/eng/b8718d-dcnl.pdf. live.
  15. Web site: 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. 21 September 2018. 21 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180921225842/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/2018-09-20/9/. live.
  16. Web site: S.I. No. 255/2018 - Referendum Commission (Establishment) (No. 2) Order 2018. Irish Statute Book. 18 July 2018. 6 August 2018. 6 August 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180806180553/http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2018/si/255/made/en/print. live.
  17. News: Blasphemy referendum to go ahead on October 26th as Minister signs order. The Irish Times. 21 September 2018. 21 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180921192833/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/blasphemy-referendum-to-go-ahead-on-october-26th-as-minister-signs-order-1.3637229. live.
  18. Web site: 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. 28 September 2018. 28 September 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180928161321/https://www.housing.gov.ie/local-government/voting/referenda/thirty-seventh-amendment-constitution-repeal-offence-publication. live.
  19. Web site: We must vote yes to remove the crime of blasphemy from our Constitution – Flanagan. Fine Gael. 18 October 2018. 20 October 2018. 18 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181018135422/https://www.finegael.ie/we-must-vote-yes-to-remove-the-crime-of-blasphemy-from-our-constitution-flanagan/. live.
  20. Web site: Religious faiths are strong enough to withstand the removal of Blasphemy law – O'Callaghan. 19 October 2018. 20 October 2018. Fianna Fáil. 20 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181020165242/https://www.fiannafail.ie/religious-faiths-are-strong-enough-to-withstand-the-removal-of-blasphemy-law-ocallaghan/. dead.
  21. Web site: Sinn Féin calls for Yes vote in Blasphemy referendum. 20 October 2018. 24 October 2018. Sinn Féin. 24 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181024073754/https://www.sinnfein.ie/contents/51325. live.
  22. Web site: Liam van der Spek Welcomes Referendum on Removal of Blasphemy Offence. 13 October 2018. 20 October 2018. Labour Party. 20 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181020140751/https://www.labour.ie/liamvanderspek/news/152890120823704543.html. live.
  23. Web site: Green call for Yes Vote in Blasphemy Referendum. Green Party. 19 October 2018. 20 October 2018. 20 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181020140821/https://www.greenparty.ie/greens-call-for-yes-vote-in-blasphemy-referendum/. live.
  24. Web site: Blasphemy – There Is More To It Than Just A Word. People Before Profit. 10 October 2018. 20 October 2018. 20 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181020140626/http://www.pbp.ie/blasphemy-there-is-more-to-it-than-just-a-word/. live.
  25. Web site: SocDems urge Yes vote to rid Constitution of blasphemy offence. 2018-10-20. Social Democrats. en-US. 2019-01-31. 1 February 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190201013238/https://www.socialdemocrats.ie/2018/10/20/229129/. live.
  26. Web site: ICCL calls for YES vote in Blasphemy Referendum. 27 September 2018. 20 October 2018. Irish Council for Civil Liberties. 20 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181020140617/https://www.iccl.ie/news/iccl-yes-blasphemy-referendum/. live.
  27. News: Church of Ireland backs removal of blasphemy offence. 17 October 2018. 20 October 2018. The Irish Times. 17 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181017230622/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/church-of-ireland-backs-removal-of-blasphemy-offence-1.3667012. live.
  28. Web site: Atheist Ireland: Referendum on blasphemy about freedom of speech. Irish Examiner. 30 September 2018. 4 October 2018. 5 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181005030850/https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/atheist-ireland-referendum-on-blasphemy-about-freedom-of-speech-872477.html. live.
  29. Web site: Irish bishops say constitutional article on blasphemy is 'largely obsolete'. Stephen. McNeice. 3 October 2018. 4 October 2018. Newstalk. 4 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181004124402/https://www.newstalk.com/Bishops-say-constitutional-article-on-blasphemy-is-largely-obsolete-. live.
  30. News: Constitutional blasphemy clause 'largely obsolete', Bishops decide. Conor Gallagher. The Irish Times. 25 October 2018. 3 October 2018. Rights of religious communities to engage in public debate must be respected, conference states. 25 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181025150016/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/constitutional-blasphemy-clause-largely-obsolete-bishops-decide-1.3650683. live.
  31. https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/blasphemy-referendum/religious-groups-back-removal-of-blasphemy-from-the-constitution-37448300.html "Religious groups back removal of blasphemy from the Constitution"
  32. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-45903094 "Blasphemy, Stephen Fry and referendum in Ireland"
  33. Web site: Minister Charlie Flanagan and Senator Ronan Mullen on the blasphemy referendum. RTÉ. 25 October 2018. 24 October 2018. 25 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181025071046/https://www.rte.ie/news/player/2018/1024/21453486-minister-charlie-flanagan-and-senator-ronan-mullen-on-the-blasphemy-referendum/. live.
  34. Web site: Watch: Reasons to vote in the blasphemy referendum. RTÉ. 25 October 2018. 24 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. 24 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181024182029/https://www.rte.ie/news/newslens/2018/1023/1006185-blasphemy-referendum-pitches/. live.
  35. News: A significant number of people don't know how they're going to vote in the blasphemy referendum. TheJournal.ie. 23 September 2018. 13 October 2018. 13 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181013093419/http://www.thejournal.ie/blasphemy-poll-4248981-Sep2018/. live.
  36. News: Blasphemy offence on course to be removed from Constitution. Pat Leahy. The Irish Times. 17 October 2018. 19 October 2018. 17 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181017080547/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/blasphemy-offence-on-course-to-be-removed-from-constitution-1.3665731. live.
  37. News: Michael D Higgins on course for decisive first-count victory as Peter Casey surges into second place. Pat Leahy, Political Editor. The Irish Times. 26 October 2018. 26 October 2018. 26 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181026232246/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/irish-times-exit-poll-michael-d-higgins-on-course-for-decisive-first-count-victory-as-peter-casey-surges-into-second-place-1.3677340. live.
  38. Web site: RTÉ exit poll suggests blasphemy referendum will pass. RTÉ News. 26 October 2018. 26 October 2018. 26 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181026224355/https://www.rte.ie/news/2018/1026/1006957-exit-poll-blasphemy-referendum/. live.
  39. Web site: Polls close in Presidential and referendum votes. Martina. Fitzgerald. 26 October 2018. RTÉ News. 26 October 2018. 26 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181026034930/https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2018/1026/1006764-presidential-elexblasphemy-ref/. live.
  40. News: Older voters less likely to back removal of blasphemy - poll. Joe Little, Religious & Social Affairs Correspondent. 27 October 2018. RTÉ News. 27 October 2018. 27 October 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181027171057/https://www.rte.ie/news/2018/1027/1007042-blasphemy/. live.

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