Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Today saw the publication of the Chief Justice's judgment on the competence of the Government in its handling of the children's referendum, particularly with regard to the booklet, website and advertisement published by the Government. The Chief Justice said that all three failed the test of being fair, equal and impartial. They failed to be neutral, failed to hold the scales equally between both sides and favoured one side over the other. The Chief Justice also drew a contrast between how the Government approached the material and how the Referendum Commission dealt with it, in terms of the neutral manner in which the commission pursued its work. The Constitution belongs to the people and no Government has the right to allocate to itself either funding or the capacity to take the decision away from the people and into its own hands.

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