Cavan accepts divorce changes
Cavan returned an overwhelming yes vote to the referendum to change the Constitution of Ireland in relation to divorce. The final figures from the Drumalee count centres show that 24,108 voted for the amendment, with 8,611 voting against the change.
The proposal is about two issues relating to divorce, namely how long people must be living apart before applying for a divorce, and the recognition of foreign divorces.
At present the constitution requires that spouses have lived apart from one another for a period of, or periods amounting to, at least four years during the previous five years. This will now be removed from the constitution, with the government indicating that they will reduce the mandatory waiting period to two of the last three years.
The other section to be removed from the constitution is that “a person whose marriage has been dissolved under the civil law of any other State but is a subsisting valid marriage under the law for the time being in force within the jurisdiction of the Government and Parliament established by this Constitution shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage within that jurisdiction during the lifetime of the other party to the marriage so dissolved”.
This will be replaced by the following wording “Provision may be made by law for the recognition under the law of the State of a dissolution of marriage granted under the civil law of another state.”
In Cavan the total electorate was 56,466 with 32,031 voters turning out. There were 1,112 invalid votes leaving a total valid poll of 30,919. The votes in favour were 24,108 with 8,611 against.
For live updates from the count centre across the weekend, log on to:
https://www.anglocelt.ie/elections/roundup/articles/2019/05/24/4174595-live-election-blog-2019/
https://www.anglocelt.ie/elections/roundup/articles/2019/05/24/4174595-live-election-blog-2019/