Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not delay the House at all. Senator Seery Kearney has eloquently articulated a lot of my viewpoints. I think this referendum is important. My only regret in many ways is that it is happening so late in the cycle of the Government. It should have happened earlier, two or three years ago had it been possible. As a matter of fact, this referendum should have happened a long time ago. We must bear in mind that the Constitution we are working from was drafted in 1937. The world we now live in, compared to the world in 1937, is fundamentally different. There are fundamentally different values. There is a fundamentally different respect structure out there that did not exist. I have listened to a lot of the contributions today and I listened to Senator Ruane's contribution earlier this afternoon. A lot of what she said I very much agree with. There is a notion that this referendum will go against women. She rightly pointed out how many times women are mentioned in the Constitution. I think twice is correct. I think it is abhorrent to a large extent. The Constitution does not respect equality at all. If I had my way, we would tear up the Constitution and write a new one, but that is not going to happen.