Sarah O'Reilly, the local Aontú representative in Cavan has told Northern Sound her party has decided to vote No /No in the upcoming family and carers referendums. The Cavan County Councillor said the decision was taken at the party's recent Ard Comhairle when individuals researched the terms of the constitution beforehand and debated the issues between its members.
On the so-called 'family' referendum, Cllr O'Reilly said Aontú don't agree with the government removing the words 'woman' and 'home' from the constitution. Cllr O'Reilly and Aontú also think the term 'durable relationship', which, will replace the term family "poses more questions than it answers" and will be like "the goose that laid a golden egg for the Law Society"
On the 'carers' referendum, Sarah O'Reilly said Aontú believe carers have been under-valued for too long but there is nothing
meaningful for them in the proposed change to the constitution. Aontú, she said, would rather see the government focus on reforming the carers' allowance qualification criteria and tackling the over-cost of childcare: "Well, I'll be voting 'no' and 'no'," Councillor O'Reilly said, "because one, it doesn't go far enough and, two, the re-definition of the family could cause a lot of chaos and court wranglings so, at the minute we feel until there is something stronger to protect carers and to protect people who are caring for family members, if there were something there tangible for them we would vote for that but, as it is, we see nothing of benefit in this legislation."
