Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Bill 2015

Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland

Location

Date

22 May 2015

Results
	Votes	%
Yes	1,201,607	7001620700000000000♠62.07%
No	734,300	7001379300000000000♠37.93%
Valid votes	1,935,907	7001992900000000000♠99.29%
Invalid or blank votes	13,818	6999710000000000000♠0.71%
Total votes	1,949,725	100.00%
Registered voters/turnout	3,221,681	7001605200000000000♠60.52%

Results by constituency

How the electorate voted, by constituency. Proportion of the valid poll voting yes: 72.5%–75% 70%–72.49% 67.5%–69.99% 65%–67.49% 62.5%–64.99% 60%–62.49% 57.5%–59.99% 55%–57.49% 52.5%–54.99% 50%–52.49% 48.58%

Source: Iris Oifigiúil

The Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution is an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland that permits marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex. Prior to the enactment, the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage. The amendment was effected by the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Marriage Equality) Act 2015 (previously Bill No. 6 of 2015), which was approved at a referendum on 22 May 2015 by 62% of voters on a turnout of 61%. This was the first time that a state legalised same-sex marriage through a popular vote. Two legal challenges regarding the conduct of the referendum were dismissed on 30 July by the Court of Appeal, and the bill was signed into law by the President on 29 August. The Marriage Act 2015 then amended marriage law to give effect to the constitutional amendment, and the first same-sex marriages took place on 16 November 2015.

The amendment inserted a new section 4 to Article 41 of the Constitution. The English text reads:

4. Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.

The Irish text reads:

4. Féadfaidh beirt, gan beann ar a ngnéas, conradh pósta a dhéanamh de réir dlí.

The text in Irish and English is intended to have the same meaning; in the event of a conflict, the Irish version takes precedence.

The Irish text of the amendment as introduced was:

4. Féadfaidh beirt, cibé acu is fir nó mná iad, conradh a dhéanamh i leith pósadh de réir dlí.

Journalist Bruce Arnold argued against the bill in two articles in The Irish Times, one of which focused on alleged issues with the Irish text. Arnold argued that the Irish text describes only same-sex couples, thus rendering opposite-sex marriage illegal. Government sources pointed out the words impugned by Arnold ("beirt" and "cibé acu is fir nó mná") are already used with similar intent elsewhere in the constitution. Counterpoints from legal academics were that Arnold's strict constructionist interpretation would be trumped by the doctrine of absurdity, and that failure to mention opposite-sex marriage would not make it illegal. Some argued that the Irish text should nevertheless be changed to remove all doubts. Enda Kenny announced on 10 March 2015 that such a change would be made. Frances Fitzgerald moved the amendment in the Dáil the following day.

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