A new group opposed to the children’s rights amendment to the Constitution was launched this morning in Dublin.
The Two Rights Now campaign is opposing the referendum, due to be voted on next month, on a number of grounds - including that the new clauses will allow too great a shift toward State intervention.
If passed on November 10th, the 31st referendum to the Constitution will introduce a new article, Article 42A, and will remove Article 42.5. Its aim is to strengthen the rights of children.
The new group is made up of John Colgan, Dick Spicer and Mike McKillen, all three of whom had campaigned for the separation of Church and State in the 1980s.
At an event this morning, Mr Colgan said most of the procedures to be introduced under the amendment, such as the rights of children to be heard in court, were redundant as they were already a part of practice. Moreover, what was not already being done could be implemented through ordinary legislation, he said.
Mr Spicer, former chairman of the Humanist Association, said they appreciated the good intentions of those involved in the Yes campaign, but "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". The amendment was dangerous he said, adding that where any State had gone over the top on intervention it had lead to disasters.
The three also highlighted two rights of children already in the Constitution; the right to a free primary education and the right to attend national school without receiving a religious education. The State had yet to vindicate these rights, they said.
Mr McKillen said the group would be voting No "to draw attention to the fundamental rights being airbrushed out of the equation".
