DUBLIN, Ireland — DUBLIN - Ireland’s leaders issued last-minute appeals Friday for voters to amend the constitution to include stronger rights for children, making it easier for state agencies to protect children from abuse and for neglected kids to be adopted.
But the campaign to secure a “yes” vote in today’s referendum took a surprise hit from the Irish Supreme Court.
The five-judge court ruled that the government’s information booklet backing the amendment, mailed to every household in this country of 4.6 million, was not fully accurate and violated laws requiring the government not to fund only one side of a referendum argument.
The government apologized, resisted calls to postpone the vote and urged voters to approve the measure regardless of the strong possibility that the amendment would face legal challenge if passed.
The court ordered the government to take down the bulk of material from its campaign website, which had a similar presentation of facts and arguments, but said it would be impossible to recall the booklets. The court had no power to order a postponement of the vote.
“If we’ve made a mistake, we accept that, but don’t take it out on the children,” said Leo Varadkar, a government minister leading the campaign for approval.
Front Section, Pages 8 on 11/10/2012