Constitution needs a complete overhaul On track to be let down

IT’S been ages since we had a referendum, which is rather a shame in a country that likes to hold them every couple of years.

I’m all for direct democracy, though, and I certainly welcome the chance to remove the wording about a woman’s place being in the home, with the decision to press ahead with the November referendum symbolically announced on International Women’s Day.

That said, instead of endless Citizens’ Assemblies, and having to march to polling stations to approve every change, isn’t it fairly obvious now that the 1937 Constitution would be better off being completely overhauled? Keep the good bits, by all means, but let’s look at everything that currently is contentious, and add in new rights such as those to housing and water.

It would, of course, be a laborious process, but 2037 seems like a good target we could aim for, before having one final vote.

AS a man who never had children, I don’t share the usual concerns of those my age, who want to live long enough to see their kids successfully paired off, maybe married, gaining a foothold on the property ladder, and starting families. But the absence of these understandable aspirations should not be taken as an indication there is nothing I would wish to live long enough to see. It’s just that I’m probably setting my sights too high when I tell you that, despite this week’s announcement of new impetus to construct the semi-underground MetroLink, what I long to experience is the day I can get a train from Stephen’s Green to Dublin Airport.