DUBLIN, May 27 (NNN-AGENCIES) — People in the Republic of Ireland have voted overwhelmingly in favour of liberalising divorce laws, in a referendum held on Saturday.
The constitution currently states that spouses must be separated for four of the previous five years to divorce.
But that clause will now be removed, allowing the Oireachtas (Irish parliament) to decide a new separation period before divorce is allowed.
Divorce was legalised in Ireland in 1995.
The country voted in the 1995 referendum by a margin of just 50.3%.
In Friday’s poll, with two of 31 constituencies still to declare, voters backed a change to the law by 82.1% to 17.9%, according to results tallied by Irish broadcaster RTE.
Any change to the Irish constitution must be supported by a majority of voters in a referendum.
Prior to the vote on divorce laws on Friday, the government indicated that it believed a two-year separation was long enough.
The main political parties in Ireland all supported the liberalisation of divorce laws. Opposition to the vote came from Catholic pressure groups such as the Iona Institute. — NNN-AGENCIES
