THE Catholic Church-dominated state of the Irish Republic was rocked to its foundations on Saturday when the results came through after the referendum on abortion.
This showed that the 23 May 2015 shock for the state when a referendum agreed to ‘same sex marriage’, was not a one-off, and that the huge gulf not only remains between the Catholic Church and the masses, it has widened, with the mass of the working class, which has borne the full brunt of the economic crisis since the 2008 crash that destroyed their living standards, fighting back in every way that they can.
On May 23 2015, the Yes vote prevailed by 62 to 38 per cent with a large 60.5 per cent turnout. In total, 1,201,607 people voted in favour with 734,300 against, giving a majority of 467,307. The total valid poll was 1,935,907. Roscommon-South Leitrim was the only county to reject same-sex marriage. The No vote there finished with 51.4 per cent.
On Friday, the referendum on abortion resulted in a landslide 66.4% to 33.6% win for those in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution with a turnout of 64.1%. 1,429.981 voted Yes to 723,632 No, a majority of 706,349. The only constituency to vote against repealing the Eighth Amendment was Donegal, with 51.9% voting against the change.
Ireland’s Taoiseach Leo Varadkar hailed the overwhelming vote to overturn the abortion ban as ‘a historic day for Ireland,’ adding that a ‘quiet revolution’ had taken place. In fact, the revolution has been taking place and has deepened since 2015! The difference is that it is now ready to explode with devastating effect both inside the Republic and in the north of Ireland and also in the UK.
The referendum result will have to be legislated and the masses will be keeping an eagle eye on the process. It is certain that any parliamentary attempt to dilute the victory of the masses to appease the bishops will be answered by massive anger. The revolution will not be so quiet if any attempt is made to impede it!
As well, the referendum result will be massively supported by hundreds of thousands of workers in the north of Ireland, and will therefore bring the unity of Ireland, and the foundation of an all-Ireland Socialist Republic that much nearer. In fact, it has even bigger repercussions for the United Kingdom where, as a result of the massive referendum triumph, the pact between the DUP and the Tories that keeps the May government in office is now under threat.
After the referendum result, members of the May cabinet have joined opposition leaders and MPs in demanding new laws in Northern Ireland to legalise abortion. Democratic Unionist MP Ian Paisley served notice that his party would block any change in the law, declaring that Northern Ireland ‘should not be bullied into accepting abortion on demand’ proclaiming his father’s old slogan ‘No Surrender’.
Some UK MPs claim that, since devolved government in the province is currently suspended, the UK government in Westminster should now grasp the opportunity to change the law. The Tory government’s Women and Equalities Minister Mordaunt has called for a free vote of MPs on a change in the law. Three other former holders of the Women and Equalities role – Amber Rudd, Justine Greening and Maria Miller – all back Mordaunt in support for reform in Northern Ireland.
House of Commons Health Select Committee chairwoman and Tory MP Sarah Wollaston said: ‘As this is a devolved issue, if an amendment is not accepted by the Speaker, then there should at very least be a referendum in N Ireland on this issue.’ These moves will bring down the May government, with the DUP refusing to sustain it any longer, and see the return of a Corbyn-led Labour government.
This will be unable to hold back the working class, which will seize the opportunity to get back all that it has been robbed of since the 2008 banking crash. The alleged ‘quiet revolution in Ireland’ is in fact the launching pad for a Socialist United Ireland and a Socialist Britain.
This will be part of the struggle to smash the EU of the bosses and bankers, which ruined Ireland and Greece, and replace it with the Socialist United States of Europe, expropriating the bosses and bankers of the EU in the process.
