President of Ireland,
Mr. Michael D. Higgins,
Aras an Uachtaráin,
Phoenix Park, Dublin.
9th November 2012
Dear President Higgins,
Mothers Alliance Ireland are requesting you, as President of
Ireland, to take whatever steps are necessary to stop the Referendum on the
proposed Amendment to the Constitution going ahead tomorrow, 10th November
2012.
It is our contention that the Irish people have been
wilfully and intentionally denied full and factual information by the
Government, by the Referendum Commission and by the national broadcaster RTE,
information which, if it was known, we believe would undoubtedly affect the
outcome of the Referendum.
Irish people are not aware that they are voting on an
Amendment to the Constitution which will bring the Constitution of Ireland into
line with an International Treaty, namely the United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child, which will facilitate the incorporation into Irish
domestic law, of the principles contained in this International Treaty, and
which constitutes a direct attack on the Constitutional Family, which the
Government has a Constitutional obligation to defend from attack. The
Referendum Commission, in their public information booklet, in their media
advertisements and in their public broadcasts on RTE and on other media
outlets, failed to make this crucial fact known.
Two separate Bills entitled the 31st Amendment to the Irish
Constitution are in circulation at this present time.
One is named the Thirty First Amendment to the Constitution
(Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) Bill 2012.
The Second Bill is named: The Thirty First Amendment to the
Constitution (Children’s) Bill 2012. These publications are confusing in
themselves. They were circulated on Official Government paper as having been
passed by both houses of the Oireachtas. The first flawed publication was
withdrawn, but there was no public pronouncements from Government offices to
alert the people that this flawed document had been distributed to Post Offices
around Ireland. Neither were the Irish people properly informed when the flawed
Bills were finally recalled from Post Offices. Both publications are on
official Government paper, and are indistinguishable from each other. Copies of
the Bills were unavailable for purchase at any time in post offices during the
campaign, contrary to the 1994 Referendum Act.
Despite repeated appeals from Mothers Alliance Ireland to Mr
Peter Feeney, of the RTE Referendum Steering Committee, including a request to
facilitate a head to head debate with Minister Frances Fitzgerald to alert the
electorate to the fact that the Referendum, if passed, would
bring our Constitution into line with an International
Treaty, and also to the dangerous contamination in the Referendum publications,
RTE failed in their duty under the Broadcasting Act to explore and debate the
issues raised by Mothers Alliance Ireland, with any government representative,
including the Minister, or any of the yes-campaign advocates. We hold that this
displays a lack of fairness and impartiality on the part of the public
broadcaster towards the No campaign, depriving the people of their right to
know in the public interest. RTE did offer MAI an audience seat in the
Frontline programme but could give no guarantee that we would get an
opportunity to raise the issue.
We contend that there was collusion between Government and
Media and vested interests both outside and inside Ireland, to prevent the
Irish people from knowing fully that they were being asked to change their
Constitution to bring Irish domestic law into line with International law.
We also hold that the Bill could be in contravention of
Article 46 of the Irish Constitution.
Acknowledging that yesterday’s Supreme Court Judgement did
not allow an injunction, this Referendum must be called off, because it is
impossible, at this stage, for the Government and the Referendum Commission to
correct the mis-statements in the entire presentation by the Referendum
Commission, particularly the glaring omission, referenced in the Government
booklet, that the Referendum, if passed, would reflect an International Treaty,
which will be legally binding on Ireland. The Irish people will be transferring
a fundamental competence from the people to an International body, without
fully informed consent.
Mothers Alliance Ireland, an approved body by the Referendum
Commission for the purposes of this Referendum, is now informing you, the
President of Ireland, the Taoiseach and the Attorney General, that this is a
fatally flawed Referendum and should be called off forthwith.
Yours respectfully,
Mrs Nora Bennis,
Secretary Mothers Alliance Ireland,
47 O'Connell Street, Limerick.
061-3275532
