Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I do not need to remind the Minister. The Labour Party pushed for a divorce referendum in 1986. That referendum was held but, sadly, failed.. There was such an impact on many people whose marriages had broken down and who were denied the possibility of remarrying until, finally, the right to remarry campaign and Divorce Action Group succeeded in getting the referendum passed in November 1995. That referendum was also held largely at the instigation of the Labour Party, which was then in a rainbow coalition with Fine Gael and the Democratic Left. I was too young to be involved in the 1986 campaign but the 1995 referendum was passed by a very narrow majority of 9,114 votes. That margin was so tight and the campaign so bitterly contested that it is very interesting to see how far we have come in the years since.

The referendum on 24 May this year on the thirty-eighth amendment to the Constitution was initiated by the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, to whom I wish to pay tribute for providing the momentum for this reform. That referendum was passed with a majority of 82%. There was clearly an appetite for moving towards reform of divorce law and a growing recognition that the provision that had been put into the Constitution in 1995 by a very narrow majority which required couples to have lived apart for four out of the previous five years was too restrictive and was causing serious and unnecessary obstacles to couples who had already faced the tragic circumstance of a marriage breakdown.The mandatory four-year period was one of the longest in the world. It had the effect of forcing couples into a cumbersome two-stream legal procedure where they had to seek a judicial separation to regularise their situation following marriage breakdown, but then still had to wait for the four years to pass before they could seek a divorce, even where they had formed new relationships in the meantime and wished to achieve legal recognition for those.

We are all well aware of the compassionate and practical reasons this referendum was so important and we were also all aware at the time that despite the dire predictions around the 1995 referendum, the Irish divorce rate had remained low at 0.7% when I looked at it. That was one of the lowest rates in Europe, where the average was 1.9%. Marriage rates have remained strong, and since the 2015 marriage equality referendum, gay couples have the right to marry too. Like Senator Ó Donnghaile, I am delighted to note and acknowledge the change in the law in Northern Ireland as of this week to ensure marriage equality will be recognised there from January 2020. It is an important and momentous reform for Northern Ireland.

I am glad we are moving ahead with reforms and I support them. I am particularly glad to see the clarification being inserted into this legislation in recognition of the jurisprudence on the area of living apart to clarify that, as the Minister said in his speech and as is in the legislation, "spouses who live in the same dwelling as one another shall be considered as living apart from one another if the court is satisfied that, while so living in the same dwelling, the spouses do not live together as a couple in an intimate and committed relationship". That reflects the case law on both separation and divorce. I am glad to see that and to see the provisions around recognition of foreign marriages. That is also another important part of this legislation. I support the legislation and will support its speedy passage.