Why are we leaving divorce in the Constitution at all?

We’re being asked to remove the minimum living-apart period. But that will leave other provisions on divorce in the Constitution that have no place there at all

Josepha Madigan, the minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht Pic: Fergal Phillips

Ireland will hold its third referendum on divorce this May.

Josepha Madigan’s private members’ Bill to modernise Ireland’s divorce laws proposes to remove the four-year minimum living apart period contained in Article 41.3.2 of the Constitution. Ireland’s waiting time for divorce is one of the longest in the world and the government is recommending a reduced term of two years to be defined by legislation.

But why not have a referendum which removes ...