Time to shine light on archaic shadows in our constitution

SIR,

It is time to finally rid the Irish Constitution of the long standing albatross that officially defines a woman’s place as in the home. In the year 2018 it is embarrassing and, indeed, almost laughable that such a sexist and insulting refrain still exists in our constitution.

We have only just conducted a referendum on ridding the constitution of any reference to blasphemy.... a crime for which there were no prosecutions in over 200 years. It was a useless phrase in the constitution and now we are rid of it.

Is there a more useless phrase in our constitution than the one that relegates a woman’s place to the home?!!

We allow divorce now, we allow abortions, we allow same-sex marriages and now we can swear at anybody we like. But women best keep that apron on and get the washing up done!! Best fold the laundry, make the beds, do the dusting and get the rubbish out.

At least until the numbskull politicians in Dublin get some sense knocked into them.

There’s a group up there who thinks the offensive clause should be ‘amended’ rather than altogether deleted. Amended? To say what?

No amendment could possibly scour this archaic and misogynistic shadow from the root of the Irish Constitution. They want to make sure that there is some value given to caring in the home. That is typical, obstreperous political opposition – throw the kitchen sink into the referendum and it’ll never even get to a committee vote.

Smarter heads hopefully will prevail. They want to delete Article 41.2 in its entirety. Kick it to the curb. Let’s see the back of the historical ridicule of a woman’s role in modern Irish society. When a doctor goes after a cancerous tumour in a patient, the goal is to cut the lot of it out, not just a little bit.

It’s time to get rid of this cancerous language and let women be women..... anywhere they like.

Sincerely,

Tom Cahill Ballinskelligs