NATIONAL: Care and Family amendments resoundingly rejected

The defeat of the 'Family' and 'Care' referenda in the Republic of Ireland was described as "resounding" by Laoise de Brún BL, CEO and Founder of The Countess.

The Countess Advocacy CLG (The Countess) is a group of progressive women and men from all walks of life, including doctors, lawyers, and students. It is volunteer-led, self-funded, and not affiliated with any political party or religion. It is apolitical and non-partisan.

Ms de Brún said: "The referenda held on March 8 were resoundingly defeated by the Irish people, with a clear majority voting No to both the Family and the Care amendments.

“This is a win for mothers, motherhood, women and families. It is a win for truth, realism and ordinary people. It is a bloody nose for a government that is power-drunk and soulless; a craven opposition and a corrupt NGO industrial complex that serves itself and the elites to the detriment of the people who fund it.”

“I named this organisation The Countess Didn’t Fight For This because Countess Constance Markiewicz and the visionaries of
1916 fought for a vision of a republic that has twice been stolen from the people; first by the church and now by the government and NGOs. This referendum must be used as a lightning rod for change, real change.

"The grassroots campaign by the Countess volunteers, was ignored by national media but we went local and we went global. Over the past eight weeks we took our campaign to the people, to the towns and cities of Ireland, and people were
hungry for real debate and information," said Ms de Brún.

The barrister said the group's message had been "powerful".

She addded: "It resonates locally across the country and globally. The world is watching. Ireland is a testing ground for unhinged hard-left policy and law and the government expected a slam dunk with this one.

"They misled the public, they misled the most vulnerable and that is especially unforgivable. They lied to carers of disabled (mothers, women) and to single parents (mothers) who this same state used to incarcerate. They tried to gaslight the nation. Well, the country is awake and it's not working anymore.

"The veil has lifted. And it's not pretty is it. They will do and say anything to force what they call progress/inclusivity/ but is really the cold lizard heart of neoliberalism mixed with gender ideology, onto the people. And the people are saying No. Enough.

“An estimated 23 million Euro was spent on this referendum. Normal democratic processes were circumvented, and misinformation was spread by government ministers and prominent NGOs. There must be a proper examination of the conduct of this referendum.”