In 2024, the Irish government pushed a referendum on the people seeking to remove the words “woman”, “mother” and “home” from the Constitution.

The proposal – agitated for by the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI) – was to repeal and replace the wording of Article 41.2 of the Constitution. It expresses gratitude to women for their “life within the home”, which “gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved”, and states that mothers should not be obliged to work outside the home because of economic necessity. Although the provision was described as “an outdated gender stereotype” and “an embarrassment” by the powers that be, the changes were roundly rejected by a massive 74 per cent of voters – to the shock and chagrin of the architects of the referendum. So the government is now changing tack.