Carol Nolan (Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Josepha Madigan for proposing the Bill. Sinn Féin welcomes this Bill which, if enacted, would allow for a referendum to reduce the waiting period that a separated couple must undergo before they can be granted a divorce. We recognise, as we did during the original divorce referendum in 1995, that the reality is some marriages break down over time and that sometimes this is irreparable. In those circumstances, the commitment and love between two people required to sustain a marriage is no longer present and it is simply inhumane to require those people to continue to be bound by a legal partnership that they both want out of. The electorate agreed with this and as a result the divorce referendum was passed in 1995.

The very restrictive nature of the laws governing divorce in Ireland have their roots in the previous failed referendum of 1986, but the State has changed much more during the past 30, or even 20, years. We recognise the diversity of families in Ireland and most people recognise that it is not their business whether other couples remain separated, divorce or stay together for whatever reason. It is only our business in so far as we, as law makers, are the ones who need to initiate a change to make it more accessible for people to divorce.

The outright ban on divorce in the Constitution between 1937 and 1995 did not serve society. It did not serve those who were legally trapped in marriages which they did not want to be a part of. We recall the strong resistance to the proposed divorce referendum by some organisations who insisted that the introduction of divorce in Ireland would open the floodgates of marital breakdown. It is clear that this has not happened. There were already thousands of separated persons in this jurisdiction before divorce was introduced.

The results of a survey published last year showed that, although there was an overall increase in the number of couples in the EU getting divorced in 2015, Ireland and Luxembourg had the lowest rates of divorce. The same study showed that Ireland had the highest proportion of young people and the highest fertility rate in the EU. The divorce rate in Ireland is 0.6 people per 1,000, which is the third lowest rate in the world. The rate of divorce is three times higher in the UK. More research is needed on why this is the case. Is it because Irish people find it more expensive or difficult to get married in the first place? Do we have lower divorce rates because it is harder and more expensive to go through with a divorce? Are more people in Ireland simply shackled not only by the bonds of marriage but by the bonds of negative equity preventing them from divorcing? None of this is clear. What is clear is that we need a legal framework that is fit for a modern country and fit for society’s needs.

The current waiting period is not acceptable. It is nobody’s business whether John and Mary from down the road decide to go their separate ways, but it is cruel to make them wait five years in order to divorce. The sky will not fall in if we allow them to divorce after two years. No one seriously considers it should take grown adults four years to decide whether to divorce. What is the point of forcing people to wait a long period of time, especially given many of these people form relationships and have children with others in the intervening years before they can divorce?

We need to trust adults to make the best decisions for themselves, their families and their relationships. On that basis, we are happy to support the Bill and urge the Government to hold a referendum to make the appropriate change as soon as possible.

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