Any amendment to the Constitution must ensure children's rights are explicitly enshrined in the text, a leading chidlren's charity said today.
The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (ISPCC) said the recommendations drawn up in the 1996 Constitutional Review should form the basis of any proposed amendment.
A number of children's charities including Barnardos and the CARI Foundation outlined possible changes after Taoiseach Bertie Ahern last week admitted the Constitution must be altered to fully protect children against neglect or abuse.
The ISPCC called for Article 41 to be revised to put children's interests first which would meet the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Children which Ireland ratified in 1992.
The charity, which has met with the Minister for Children over the wording of the proposed amendment, said difficulties created by the Constitution have become particularly apparent over the past 20 years.
"A Constitutional Referendum is necessary, not just to deal with these difficulties, but also to ensure that children's best interests are protected within a changing society, which is seeing growing social isolation of young people, changing structures of families, changing population makeup, increases in drug and alcohol misuse by young people and early sexualisation of children," a spokesman for the ISPCC said.
"This Constitutional Referendum presents a unique opportunity to ensure children's best interests are protected within Irish society for the foreseeable future. It is an opportunity we cannot afford to waste." The ISPCC, which has been campaigning on the issue of Constitutional Reform since 1989, said the difficulties created by the text include the inability of a child to seek social work or child protection support without parental consent.
The charity said it allows for discrimination against children fostered on a long-term basis and the withholding of medical procedures from some children.
The ISPCC said it would be launching a campaign 'Make Your Vote Count For Children' in a bid to build support for a Constitutional amendment from all of its supporters, the public and children themselves.