Fifteenth Amendment of The Constitution of Ireland - Overview

Overview

An absolute ban on divorce had been present in the constitution since its adoption in 1937. The prohibition reflected the religious values of the document's Roman Catholic drafters, but was also supported by senior members of the Anglican Church of Ireland. In the 1930s some other nations had similar bans, such as Italy, which would not repeal its ban until the 1970s. By the 1980s, however, many saw the prohibition on divorce as illiberal or as discriminating against those who did not share the Christian attitude to divorce.

The first attempt to remove the ban on divorce was the 1986 divorce referendum, held by the Fine Gael government of Garret FitzGerald. However the proposal was rejected by voters by a substantial margin. When Fine Gael returned to government in 1994 under John Bruton a second attempt was made and, after much controversy and public debate, was ultimately carried by a slim margin. The Fifteenth Amendment altered Article 41.3 of the constitution, which provides for a number of fundamental rights of the family. The amendment removed the absolute prohibition on divorce but imposed a number of restrictions on its occurrence.