Bruce Arnold

Critic of Public Affairs, writing about art, theatre, music and politics

Same-Sex Marriage in the Irish Constitution: A Private Paper

We are being asked to change marriage, from being a natural moral institution to being a constitutional construct from which meaning and traditional values will be stripped. The Government are rushing this through without adequate debate and without necessary legislative preparation.

Continue...

Constitution Threatened By Mistakes

The Irish Constitution, and the Irish people whom the Constitution serves, are both seriously threatened by the Government through uncertainty in the wording of the new Article to be inserted under the Marriage Equality Bill. This would become the definitive textual source and reference point for a new right to marry.

The proposal is so seriously flawed that the passage of the new Article into the Constitution by popular mandate of the electorate should be withheld. The Oireachtas should insist that the flaws in this amendment are repaired before a same-sex marriage proposal it put to the people. This is not only my personal opinion but is the legal opinion of senior counsel and distinguished academic lawyers who will be making their research findings public in due course.

Continue...